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GIVEN    BY 


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CHURCH  FEDERATION 

INTER-CHURCH  CONFERENCE 
ON  FEDERATION 

NEW  YORK,  NOVEMBER   15-21 

1905 


EDITED    BY 

ELIAS   B.  SANFORD,  D.D. 


HEW  YORK       CHICAGO       TORONTO 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 

LONDON   AND   EDINBURGH 


Copyright,  1906,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  80  Wabash  Avenue 
Toronto:  27  Richmond  Street, W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:       100  Princes  Street 


INTER-CHURCH  CONFERENCE  ON  FEDERATION. 


OFFICERS. 

Rev.  Wm.  H.  Roberts,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Permanent  Chairman. 

Secretaries. 

Rev.  Fkank  Mason  North,  D.D.  Rev.  Albert  G.  Lawson,  D.D. 

Rev.  Ashee  Anderson,  D.D.  Rev.  William  C.  Noble,  D.D. 

Rev.  James  M.  IIubbebt,  D.D.  Rev.  Martyn  Summerbell,  D.D. 

Secretary  for  Correspondence,  Rev.  E.   B.   Sanford,   D.D. 

nominating   committee. 
Rev.  John  B.  Calvert,  D.D.,  Chairman. 

business    committee. 

Rev.  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chairman. 

Rev.  Rivington  D.  Lord,  D.D.,  Secretary. 

committee   on    correspondence. 

Rev.  John  J.  Tigert,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chairman. 

Rev.  James  E.  Clarke,  D.D.,  Secretary. 

committee   on    resolutions. 
Rev.  L.  Call  Barnes,  D.D.,  Chairman. 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

Rev.  Wm.  H.  Roberts,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chairman. 

Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.D.,  Y ice-Chairman. 

Rev.  E.  B.  Sanford,  D.D.,  Secretary. 

Mr.  Alfred  R,  Kimball,  Treasurer. 

programme    committee. 
Rev.  Wm.  Hayes  Ward,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Chairman. 

FINANCE    committee. 

Mr.  Stephen  Baker,  Chairman. 

HOSPITALITY     COMMITTEE. 

Rev.  Ezra  Squier  Tipple,  D.D.,  Chairman. 

RECEPTION     COMMITTEE. 

Rev.  Kerr  Boyce  Tupper,  D.D.,  LL.D.,   Chairman. 

COMMITTEE     ON     MEETINGS. 

Rev.  Melatiah  E.  Dwight,  Chairman. 

PUBLICATION     committee. 

Mr.  Wm.  T.  Demarest,  Chairman. 

PULPIT     SUPPLY     committee. 

Rev.  Wallace  MacMullen,  D.D.,  Chairman. 

PRESS     committee. 

Rev.  John  Bancroft  Devins,  D.D..  Chairman. 

music    committee. 
J.  Cleveland  Cady,  LL.D.,  Chairman. 

committee   on    reception    at   the    WALDORF-ASTORIA. 

Dr.  S.  F.  Hallock,  Chairman. 

Office  of  Executive  Committee. 
81   BIBLE   HOUSE,   KEW   YORK. 


EDITORIAL  COMMITTEE. 

Rev.  Melatiah  E.  Dwight,  Chairman. 

Mr.  William  T.  Demarest. 

John  Bancroft  Devins,  D.  D. 

Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D. 

Wm.  Henry  Egberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Elias  B.  Sanford,  D.  D. 


INTRODUCTION 

The  strip  of  Atlantic  Coast  which  forms  the  eastern  boundary 
of  the  United  States,  in  its  earliest  discovery  and  settlement,  for 
the  most  part,  came  under  the  control  of  the  Protestant  powers  of 
Europe.  This  is  a  historic  fact  of  profound  significance  in  its 
relation  to  the  religious  life  of  the  nation. 

The  Puritan  in  New  England,  the  Baptist  in  Rhode  Island, 
the  Reformed  in  New  York,  the  Quaker  in  Pennsylvania,  the  Pres- 
byterian in  New  Jersey,  and  further  South  the  Episcopalian  in  Vir- 
ginia and  elsewhere,  with  scattered  companies  of  Huguenots  and 
other  sects,  brought  to  our  shores  wide  differences  of  polity  and 
doctrine.  Sharp  divisions  proved  inevitable  in  this  polemic  era,  for 
Protestantism  stood  for  an  open  Bible,  for  freedom  of  thought  and 
liberty  of  conscience.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution  the  differ- 
ing types  of  Protestant  Church  life  in  the  colonies  were  sectionally 
so  rooted  and  separated  that  they  interfered  but  little  with  each 
other.  The  chaotic  condition  of  affairs  following  the  Revolution 
and  the  intense  strain  upon  the  energies  of  the  people  in  laying  the 
foundations  of  the  Republic,  combined  with  the  malign  influence  of 
atheistic  thought  and  philosophy,  found  our  country,  at  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  at  a  low  ebb  in  its  religious  life.  Gradually 
the  tide  turned.  The  great  realities  of  revealed  truth  took  posses- 
sion of  men  born  to  be  leaders  in  religious  movements.  Those  who 
then  struck  the  spade  into  the  soil  opened  the  channels  along  which 
the  streams  of  a  divine  life  have  since  flowed  with  ever  increasing 
volume. 

It  is  during  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  that  we 
note  the  beginnings  of  an  astonishing  growth  of  the  denominations 
that  are  now  numerically  the  largest  in  the  country.  The  need  of 
cooperation  began  to  find  evidence  in  organizations  for  the  further- 
ance of  temperance,  Bible  and  tract  distribution,  and  foreign  mis- 
sion worlc,  and  brought  together,  in  official  relations,  men  of  differ- 
ing ecclesiastical  affiliations.  Material  growth,  with  its  marvellous 
inventions,  was  aiding  even  the  vision  of  spiritual  faith,  and  great 
souls  were  giving  to  others  an  enlarged  conception  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  and  of  brotherhood  in  Christ.  There  were  those  that 
mourned  over  the  divisions  of  Protestant  Christendom  and  longed 
for  unity.  Out  of  this  prayer  came  the  Conference  in  London  in 
1846  that  organized  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  the  United  States 
Branch  of  which  did  not  complete  its  organization  until  1867.   Fol- 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

lowing  the  great  Conference  of  the  Alliance  held  in  New  York  in 
1873,  the  Churches  entered  upon  a  period  in  which  they  have  been 
coming  into  closer  fellowship  and  active  cooperation  along  lines  of 
common  service. 

While  plans  of  organic  Church  union  have  made  little  progress 
beyond  the  stage  of  discussion,  the  spirit  of  unity  has  found  ex- 
pression in  many  and  practical  ways.  The  wonderful  develop- 
ment of  the  Christian  Endeavor  movement  bears  testimony  to  this 
fact,  and  the  history  of  the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations  and  a  host  of  pMlanthropic,  reform  and 
charitable  organizations  attests  remarkable  activity  in  united  effort 
outside  the  Churches. 

In  recent  years  the  signs  have  multiplied  that  the  spirit  dis- 
closed in  this  work  was  ready  to  link  together  in  a  vital  way 
the  evangelical  Protestant  Churches  of  our  country  for  united 
effort  to  advance  the  Kingdom  of  God  at  home  and  abroad.  In 
spite  of  a  denominational  zeal  that  has  been  often  intense,  the 
Churches  have  been  manifesting  their  oneness  in  Christ.  The  pres- 
sure of  common  needs  has  done  much  to  advance  the  cause  of  imity 
and  suggest  practical  methods  of  cooperation  and  Federation. 

The  history  of  these  activities  and  the  action  that  brought  about 
the  calling  of  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation  is  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  record  contained  in  this  volume.  Tliis  great 
Conference  marks  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  American  Christian- 
ity. It  was  a  unique  gathering  inasmuch  as  the  delegates,  with  few 
exceptions,  brought  their  credentials  as  the  officially  appointed 
representatives  of  denominational  bodies  whose  membership  con- 
stitutes a  very  large  proportion  of  the  numerical  strength  of  the 
Protestant  Churches  in  the  United  States.  In  a  spirit  of  utter 
loyalty  to  Christ  as  the  Head  of  the  Church  and  the  source  of 
saving  grace  for  a  lost  world,  they  took  counsel  together  and  agreed 
with  singular  unanimity  on  future  action.  It  has  seemed  fitting  to 
place  first  in  the  pages  of  this  record  the  Letter  of  Invitation  and 
the  proposed  Plan  of  Federation. 

The  programme  of  the  Conference  was  the  result  of  prolonged 
and  careful  deliberation  on  the  part  of  the  committee  having  this 
important  matter  in  their  charge.  A  glance  at  the  table  of  contents 
will  show  that,  while  a  central  theme  runs  through  all  the  sessions 
of  the  Conference,  the  treatment  was  large  and  many  sided.  The 
choice  of  speakers  demanded  a  careful  and  wise  selection  that 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

recognized  the  claim  of  all  of  the  denominational  bodies  repre- 
sented in  the  Conference.  As  a  rule  those  who  were  asked  to  pre- 
pare addresses  were  chosen  because  of  special  qualifications  to  speak 
upon  the  subjects  allotted  to  them.  Tliis  volume,  therefore,  is  the 
garnered  thought  of  men,  in  many  cases  not  only  honored  as  emi- 
nent leaders  in  the  communions  with  which  they  are  connected,  but 
also  recognized  by  the  Church  at  large  as  preeminently  fitted  to 
give  a  helpful  message. 

While  opportunity  was  secured  for  a  full  and  thoughtful  con- 
sideration of  the  need  of  federated  action  through  a  United  Church 
in  order  to  meet  the  problems  of  national  and  local  need  and  mis- 
sionary work  at  home  and  abroad,  provision  was  made  for  the  con- 
sideration of  important  business  and  plans  relating  to  organization 
and  work.  These  business  proceedings,  carefully  edited,  from  full 
stenographic  reports  and  the  minutes  of  the  Conference,  bear  testi- 
mony to  the  earnest  but  fraternal  spirit  in  which  discussions  of  vital 
importance  were  carried  forward  and  brought  to  a  conclusion. 

This  volume  is  sent  out  with  the  confident  expectation  that  it 
will  prove  to  be  a  contribution  of  permanent  value  in  advancing 
the  cause  of  Christian  unity.  From  the  beginning  to  the  close 
of  the  sessions  the  Inter-Church  Conference  made  its  plea  for  a 
close  and  practicable  Federation  of  Christian  forces.  A  Federation 
of  the  churches  of  every  community  that  shall  recognize  that  they 
are  "members  one  of  another"  and  that  in  their  united  life  they 
constitute  the  Church  of  Christ.  A  Federation  that  shall  bring  de- 
nominational activities  into  line  in  such  a  spirit  of  comity  and 
counsel  as  will  enable  them  to  work  together  in  making  the  Church 
of  which  Christ  is  the  Head  the  supreme  victorious  instrumentality 
in  this  and  every  land  for  bringing  in  the  final  triumph  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God. 

In  behalf  of  the  members  of  the  committees  who  have  labored 
together  in  most  delightful  fellowship  in  arranging  for  the  Con- 
ference and  in  preparing  this  volume,  I  am  permitted  the  privilege 
of  expressing  grateful  appreciation  for  the  aid  that  has  been  so 
generously  bestowed  in  connection  with  all  their  work. 


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Editor. 


THE   WILLETT    I'RESS 
NEW  YORK 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Introduction  v. 

List  of  Illustrations xiv. 

Conference  Programme 9-37 

Letter  Missive 29 

Plan,  of  Federation 33 

Report  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements 43 

Proceedings  of  the  Conference 39-131 

Addresses  of  Welcome 125-144 

J.  Cleveland  Cady,  LL.  D 125 

Hon.  Martin  W.  Littleton 139 

Rev.  Charles  L.  Thompson,  D.  D 133 

Rev.  Robert  S.  MacArthur,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 140 

Introductory  Addresses 147-163 

The  General  Movement  of  the  Christian  Churches 
Toward    Closer    Fellowship.      Rev.     William     Hayes 

Ward,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 147 

Preparatory  Work  of  Recent  Years  in  Advancing  Church 
Federation  in  the  United  States.  Rev.  Elias  B.  San- 
ford,  D.  D 154 

The  Open  Door  Before  the  Christian  Churches.  Rt.  Rev. 
William  Neilson  McVickar,  S.  T.  D 159 

Discussion 163-170 

Rev.  0.  W.  Powers 163 

Rev.  William  H.  Black,  D.  D 165 

Rev.  John  F.  Carson,  D.  D 167 

A  United  Church  and  Religious  Education 173-323 

Address   by   the    Chairman   of   the   Conference    Session. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Garrison,  LL.  D 173 

Religious    Education    in    the    Home.      Rev.    George    W. 

Richards,  D.  D 175 

ix 


X  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Religious  Education  and  tlio  Sunday  School.     TTon.  John 

Wanamaker  1^1 

Week-Day    Religious    Education.     Rev.    Geo.    U.    Wen- 

ner.  D.  D 188 

Religious   Education   in   the   College.     President   Henry 

C.  King,  D.  D 197 

The    Theological    Seminary    and    Modern    Life.     Rev. 

George  Hodges,  D.  D.,  D.  C.  L 205 

Religious    Education    hy    the    Press.     Rev.    James    M. 

Buckley,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 213 

A  United  Church  and  the  Social  Order 225-248 

Labor  and  Capital.  Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  225 
Citizenship.  President  William  J.  Tucker,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  230 
Family  Life.  Rt.  Rev.  William  C.  Doane,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  234 
The  Ideal  Society.     Rev.  Henrys  Van  Dyke,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  242 

A  United  Church  and  Home  and  Foreign  Missions.  .  .251-294 

x\ddresses : 

Rev.  Bishop  J.  S.  Mills,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 251 

Rev.  Samuel  J.  Niccolls,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 257 

Rev.  Henry  L.  Morehouse,  D.  D 26G 

Rev.  Bishop  Charles  H.  Fowler,  D.  D..  LL.  1) 273 

Rt.  Rev.  J.  M.  Levering 278 

Rev.  Bishop  C.  B.  Galloway,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 283 

Discussion : 

Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.  D 288 

Rev.  John  P.  Peters,  D.  D 290 

Rev.  William  Walton  Clark 292 

Present  Practical  Workings  of  Federation 297-365 

Address  by   the   Chairman   of   the   Conference   Session. 

Rev.  David  H.  Bauslin,  D.  D 297 

Ten  Years'  Federative  Work  in   New  York  C'ity.     Rev. 
Walter  Laidlaw,  Ph.  D 299 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xi 

Work  in  the  Smaller  Cities  and  Kural  Districts.     Eev. 
Edward  Tallmadge  Eoot 307 

Work  in  the  States : 

Eev.  Alfred  Williams  Anthony,  D.  D 313 

Eev.  J.  Winthrop  Hegeman,  Ph.  D 323 

Interdenominational  Work.  Eev.  William  I.  Haven,  D.  D.  333 
Interdenominational  Work  in  India.     Eev.  Bishop  J.  M. 

Thobum,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 339 

Interdenominational    Work    in    the    Philippines.     Eev. 

James  B.  Eodgers,  D.  D 342 

Interdenominational  Work  in   China  and  Korea.     Eev. 

Joshua  C.  Garritt 350 

Interdenominational    Work   in    Japan.     Eev.    James    L. 

Barton,  D.  D 355 

A  United  Chuech  and  the  Fellowship  of  Faith 369-389 

Address   by   the   Chairman   of  the    Conference   Session. 

Hon.  Henry  Kirke  Porter 369 

Our  Faith  in  Christ — Christ  the  Centre  of  Christianity. 

President  William  H.  P.  Faunce,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 370 

Our     Faith    in    the     Holy     Scriptures.     Eev.     H.     L. 

Willett,  Ph.  D 377 

Our    Faith   in   the   Holy   Spirit.     Eev.    Bishop    W.    F. 

McDowell,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 384 

The  Essential  Unity  of  the  Chueches 392-427 


President  Joseph  W.  Mauck,  LL.  D 392 

Eev.  Eobert  F.  Coyle,  D.  D 397 

Eev.  E.  P.  Johnston,  D.  D 403 

Eev.  F.  T.  Tagg,  D.  D 408 

Eev.  S.  P.  Spreng,  D.  D 412 

Eev.  Josiah  Strong,  D.  D 417 

Eev.  Bishop  Daniel  A.  Goodsell,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 422 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Frontispiece. 
Officers  of  Executive  Committee. 

Group  I.    Opposite  page     33 
Rev.  Wm.  H.  Roberts,  D.D.,  LL.D.      Rev.    Bishop    E.    R.    Hendrlx,    D.D., 
Rev.  Wm.  Hayes  Ward,  D.D.,  LL.D.        LL.D. 

Rev.  John  B.  Calvert,  D.D. 

Group  II.    Opposite  page     VA 
Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.D.  Rev.  L.  Call  Barnes,  D.D. 

Rev.  Asher  Anderson,  D.D.  Rev.  Martyn  Summerbell,  D.D. 

Group  III.    Opposite  page   112 
Rev.  E.  B.  Sanford,  D.D.  Rev.  Kerr  Boyce  Tupper.  D.D..  LL.D. 

Rev.  Joachim  Elmendorf,  D.D.  Rev.  John  J.  Tigert,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Group  IV.    Opposite  page  128 
Rev.  Albert  G.  Lawson,  D.D.  Rev.  J.  M.  Hubbert,  D.D. 

Rev.  Wallace  MacMullen.D.D.  Rev.  Rivington  D.  Lord,  D.D. 

Group  V.     Opposite  page  144 
Rev.  John  Bancroft  Devins,  D.D.         Rev.  M.  E.  Dwight. 
Rev.  E.  S.  Tipple,  D.D.  Mr.  Wm.  T.  Demarest. 

Group  VI.    Opposite  page   IGO 
J.  Cleveland  Cady,  LL.D.  Hon.  Martin    W.    Littleton. 

Rev.  Chas.  L.  Thompson,  D.D.  Rev.   Robt.  S.  MacArthur.  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Group  VII.     Opposite  page   176 
Rev.     Washington     Gladden,     D.D.,   Rt.    Rev.    Wm.    Neilson    McVickar, 

I-'LD  S.T.D. 

Rev.  O.  W.  Powers,  D.D.  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Black,  D.D. 

Group  VIII.     Opposite  page   192 
Rev.  John  F.  Carson,  D.D.  Rev.  J.  H.  Garrison,  LL.D. 

Rev.  George  W.  Richards,  D.D.  Hon.  John  Wanamaker. 

Group  IX.     Opposite  page  208 
Rev.  George  U.  Wenner,  D.D.  Rev.  James  M.  Bucklev,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Rev,  George  Hodges,  D.D.,  D.C.L.        Rev.  Henry  C.  King,  D.D. 

Group  X.    Opposite  page  224 
Rev.  James  D.  Moffat,  D.D.,  LL.D.    Rev.  Wm.  J.  Tucker,  D.D.,  LL.D 
Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.D.,  LL.D.   Rt.  Rev.  W.  C.  Doane,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Group  XI.     Opposite  page  240 
Rev.  Henry  van  Dyke,  D.D.,  LL.D.    Rev.    Bishop    Edward    G.    Andrew.s. 
Rev.  Bishop  J.  S.  Mills,  D.D.,  LL.D.       D.D..   LL.D. 

Rev.  Samuel  J.  Niccolls,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Group  xii.     Opposite  page  256 
Rev.  Henry  L.  Morehouse,  D.D.  Rev.  Bishop    C.    B.    Galloway     D  D 

Rt.  Rev.  J.  M.  Levering.  LL.D. 

Rev.  Bishop  Chas.   H.   Fowler,  D.D., 
LL.D. 

Group  XIII.     Opposite  page  272 
Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.D.  Rev.  John  P.  Peters.  D.D. 

Rev.  Wm.  Walton  Clark,  D.D.  Rev.  David  H.  Bauslin,  D.D. 


LIST  OF  ILL  USTRA  TIONS  xv 

Group  XIV.    Opposite  page  288 
Rev.  Walter  Laidlaw,  Ph.D.  Rev.  Edward  Tallmadgre  Root. 

Rev.  Alfred  Williams  Anthony,  D.D.  Rev.  J.  Winthrop  Hegeman,  Ph.D. 

Geoup  XV.     Opposite  page  304 
Rev.  William  I.  Haven,  D.D.  Rev.  James  B.  Rodgers,  D.D, 

Rev.  Bishop   J.   M.    Thoburn,   D.D.,  Rev.  J.  C.  Garritt,  D.D. 
LL.D. 

Gkoup  XVI.     Opposite  page  320 
Hon.  Henry  Kirke  Porter.  Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.D. 

Rev.  Wm.  H.  P.  Faunce,  D.D.,  LL.D.  Rev.  H.  L.  Willett.  Ph.D. 

Gboup  XVII.     Opposite  page  336 
Rev.  Bishop  W.  F.  McDowell,  D.D.,  Rt.  Rev.  Ozi  William  Whitaker,  D.D., 

LL.D.  LL.D. 

Joseph  W.  Mauck,  LL.D.  Rev.  Robert  F.  Coyle,  D.D. 

Group  XVIII.     Opposite  page  352 
Rev.    Bishop    Daniel     A.     Goodsell,    Rev.  9.  P.  Spreng,  D.D. 
D.D.,  LL.D.  Rev.  F.  T.  Tagg,  D.D. 

Rev.  josiah  Strong,  D.D. 

Group  XIX.     Opposite  page  384 
Mr.  John  R.  Mott.  Woodrow  Wilson,  LL.D. 

Mr.  J.   Campbell  White.  Mr.  Von  Ogden  Vogt. 

Group  XX.     Opposite  page  416 
Hon.  James  A.  Beaver.  LL.D.  Rev.    Bishop    A.    W.    Wilson,    D.D., 

Rev.  F.  D.  Power,  D.D.  LL.D. 

Rev.  D.  S.  Stevens,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Group  XXI.     Opposite  page  448 
Rev.  Charles  A.  Dickey,  D.D.,  LL.D.   Rev.  Amory  H.  Bradford,  D.D. 
Rev.  John  Baltzer,  D.D.  Rev.  C.  Armand  Miller,  D.D. 

Group  XXII.    Opposite  page  480 
Rev.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  D.D.         Rev.  Bishop  W.  S.  Derrick,  D.D. 
Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  D.D.  Rev.  Thomas  B.   Turnbull,  D.D. 

Group  XXIII.      Opposite  page  512 
Hon.  Peter  S.  Grosscup.  Hon.  David  J.  Brewer,  LL.D. 

Henry  Wade  Rogers,  LL.D.  Rev.  James  M.  Farrar,  D.D. 

Group  XXIV.      Opposite  page  560 
Rev.  Charles   Cuthbert   Hall,    D.D.,   Rt.  Rev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.D. 

LL.D.  Rev.  Donald  Sage  Mackay,  D.D. 

Rev.  S.  Parkes  Cadman,  D.D. 

Group  XXV.     Opposite  page  602 
Hon.  Samuel  B.  Capen,  LL.D.  Hon.  M.  Linn  Bruce. 

Rev.  A.  E.  Dahlman,  D.D.  Rev.  W.  B.  Noble. 

Groxjp  XXVI.     Opposite  page  634 
Rev.  Bishop  John  H.  Vincent,  D.D.,   Rev.  J.  Ross  Stevenson,  D.D. 

LL.D.  Rev.  J.  Addison  Henry,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Mr.  W.  C.  Stoever. 


PROGRAMME 


PROGRAMME 

Opening  Session  of  Welcome. 

WEDNESDAY  EVENING,  NOVEMBER  FIFTEENTH. 

J.  Cleveland  Cady,  LL.  D.,  New  York, 

President  of  the  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian 

Workers,  in  the  Chair. 


7.45     Organ  Prelude. 

8.00    Devotional  Service. 

Invocation, 

The  Rev.  Joachim  Ehnendorf,  D.  D.,  Senior  Pastor  of  the 
First  Reformed  (Collegiate)  Church,  Harlem,  New  York. 

Hymn,  "Come,  Thou  Almighty  King." 

Reading  of  Scripture, 

The  Rev.  J.  B.  Remensnyder,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of  St. 
James  Lutheran  Church,  New  York. 

Prayer, 

The  Rev.  Charles  H.  Fowler,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Resident 
Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  New  York. 

Reading  of  a  Letter  of  Greeting  from  the  President  of  the 
United  States. 

Addresses  of  Welcome. 

His  Honor  George  B.  McClellan,  LL.  D.,  Mayor  of  the  City 
of  New  York.  (Represented  by  the  Hon.  M.  W.  Littleton 
President  of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn.) 

The  Rev.  Charles  L.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  for 
the  Executive  Board  of  the  National  Federation  of 
Churches  and  Christian  Workers. 


10  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  Kev.  Kobert  S.  MacArthur,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of 
Calvary  Baptist  Church,  for  the  churches  of  the  city. 

Hymn,  "The  Church's  One  Foundation." 

Benediction. 

The  Et.  Rev.  Frederick  Burgess,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Diocese  of  Long  Island,  New  York. 


THURSDAY  MORNING,  NOVEMBER  SIXTEENTH. 
The  Rev.  Washington  Gladden,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
Pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  Columbus,  Ohio,  Mod- 
erator of  the  National  Council  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  of  the  United  States,  Presiding. 


Organ  Prelude. 

9.30    Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  "My  Faith  Looks  Up  to  Thee." 

Reading  of  Scripture, 
John  H.  Converse,  LL.  D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa..  Chairman 
of  the  Evangelistic  Committee  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  U.  S.  A. 

Prayer, 
The  Rev.  Rudolph  Dubs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
United  Evangelical  Church,  Harrisburg,  Pa. 

10.00    Report  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  Henry  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee;  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Church  Cooperation  and  Union  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
U.  S.  A. 

10.30  The  General  Movement  of  the  Christian  Churches 
TOWARDS  Closer  Fellowship. 
The  Rev.  Wm.  Hayes  Ward,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  New  York, 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Comity,  Federation  and 
Unity  of  the  National  Council  of  Congregational 
Churches. 


programme  11 

11.00    Preparatory  Work  of  Eecent  Years  in  Advancing  this 
Movement  in  the  United  States. 

The  Eev.  E.  B.  Sanford.  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  Executive 
Committee  and  General  Secretary  of  the  National  Federa- 
tion of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers. 

11.15     Business. 

Calling  of  the  Roll  and  Appointment  of  Committees. 

11.30    The  Open  Door  Before  the  Christian  Churches. 

The  Et.  Eev.  William  Neilson  McVickar,  S.  T.  D.,  Bishop  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  Ehode  Island. 

11.50    Discussion. 

Three  ten-minute  Addresses. 

The  Eev.  0.  W.  Powers,  D.  D.,  President  of  the  American 
Christian  Convention,  Columhus,  Ohio. 

The  Eev.  Wm.  H.  Black,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  President  of  Mis- 
souri Valley  College,  former  Moderator  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Mar- 
shall, Mo. 

The  Eev.  John  F.  Carson,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Central  Presby- 
terian Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

12.30    Benediction. 

The  Eev.  John  B.  Calvert,  D.  D.  (Baptist),  Editor  of  "The 
Examiner,"  New  York. 


THUESDAY  AFTEENOON,  NOVEMBEE  SIXTEENTH. 

The  Eev.  J.  H.  Garrison,  LL.  D., 

Editor  of  "The  Christian  Evangelist"  and  former  President  of  the 

Missionary  Convention  of  the  Disciples,  St.  Louis, 

Mo.,  Presiding. 


Organ  Prelude. 
2.00     Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  "All  Hail  the  Power  of  Jesus'  Name." 


12  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Reading  of  Scripture, 

The  Rev.  M.  L.  Jennings,  D.  D.,  Editor  of  "The  Metho- 
dist Protestant  Recorder,"  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Prayer, 

The  Rev.  L.  G.  Graham,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Olivet  Presby- 
terian Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

A  United  Church  and  Religious  Education. 

2.20     (1)     Religious  Education  in  the  Home, 

The  Rev.  George  W.  Richards,  D.  D.,  Professor  of 
Church  History  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States,  Lancas- 
ter, Pa. 

2.40     (2)     Religious  Education  and  the  Sunday  School, 

The  Hon.  John  Wanamaker,  former  Postmaster 
General  of  the  United  States  and  Superintendent  of 
the  Bethany  Presbyterian  Church  Sunday  School, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

3.00     (3)     Week-Day  Religious  Education, 

The  Rev.  George  U.  Wenner,  D.  D.,  New  York, 
President  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey. 

3.20     (4)     Religious  Education  in  the  College. 

The  Rev.  Henry  C.  King,  D.  D.  (Congregational), 
Pi-esident  of  Oberlin  College,  Oberlin.  Oliio. 

3.40     (5)     The  Theological  Seminary  and  Modern  Life, 

The  Rev.  George  Hodges,  D.  D.,  D.  C.  L.,  Dean  of 
the  Episcopal  Theological  School,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

4.00     (6)     Religious  Education  by  the  Press, 

The  Rev.  James  M.  Buckley,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  (Metho- 
dist Episcopal),  Editor  of  "The  Christian  Advocate," 
New  York, 

4.20    Business. 


PROGRAMME  13 

5.00    Benediction. 

The  Rev.  E.  P.  Farnham,  D.  D.,  Superintendent  of  the 
Brooklyn  Baptist  Church  Extension  Society,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y. 


THURSDAY  EVENING,  NOVEMBER  SIXTEENTH. 
The  Rev.  James  D.  Moffat,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

President  of  Washington  and  Jefferson  College,  Washington,  Pa., 

Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 

Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.,  Presiding. 


7.30    Musical  Service. 

8.00    Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  "My  Country,  'Tis  of  Thee." 

Reading  of  Scripture, 

The  Rev.  William   V.   Kelley,   D.   D.,  Editor  of  "The 
Methodist  Review,"  New  York. 

Prayer, 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Charles  L.  Moench,  Bishop  of  the  Moravian 
Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

A  United  Church  and  the  Social  Order. 

8.20     (1)     Labor  and  Capital, 

The  Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor 
of  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church, 
Washington,  D.  C.  (In  the  absence  of  the  Hon. 
John  M.  Harlan,  LL.  D.,  Associate  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.) 

8.40     (3)     Citizenship, 

The  Rev.  Wm.  J.  Tucker,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  President 
of  Dartmouth  College,  Hanover,  N.  H. 

9.00     (3)     Family  Life, 

The  Rt.  Rev.  W.  C.  Doane,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  Albany,  N.  Y. 


14  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

9.20     (4)     The  Ideal  Society, 

The  Rev.  Henry  van  Dyke,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor 
in  Princeton  University,  former  ^Moderator  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presb}i:erian  Church. 

9.40     Benediction. 

The  Eev.  Howard  Duffield,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  New  York. 


FRIDAY  MORNING,  NOVEMBER  SEVENTEENTH. 

The  Rev.  Edward  G.  Andrews,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  New  York, 
Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Presiding. 


Organ  Prelude. 

9.30    Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  "Glorious  Things  of  Thee  are  Spoken." 

Reading  of  Scripture, 
Professor  George  A.  Barton,  Ph.  D.  (Society  of  Friends), 
Bryn  Mawr  College,  Bryn  Mawr,  Pa. 

Prayer, 
The  Rev.  A.  Walters,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  African  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Zion  Church,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

A  United  Church  and  Home  and  Foreign  Missions. 

9.50         The  Rev.  J.  S.  Mills,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  United 
Brethren    Church,    Annville,    Pa. 

10.10  The  Rev.  Samuel  J.  NiccoUs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  former  Mod- 
erator of  the  General  Assembly. 

10.30  The  Rev.  Henry  L.  Morehouse,  D.  D.,  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary of  the  Baptist  Home  Missionary  Society,  New 
York. 


PROGRAMME  16 

10.50  The  Rev.  Charles  H.  Fowler,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  New  York,  in  the 
absence  of  the  Eev.  Henry  W.  Warren,  D.  D.,  LL.  D,, 
Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Denver,  Col. 

11.10  The  Rt.  Rev.  J.  M.  Levering,  Bishop  of  the  Moravian 
Church,  Bethlehem,  Pa. 

11.30  The  Rev.  C.  B.  Galloway,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Jackson,  Miss. 

11.50     Discussion. 

The  Rev,  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.  D.,  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  John  P.  Peters,  D.  D.,  Rector  of  St.  Michael's 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  New  York. 

The  Rev.  William  W.  Clark,  Field  Secretary,  New  York, 
in  the  absence  of  the  Rev.  Cornelius  Brett,  D.  D.,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Domestic  Missions  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

13.30    Benediction. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  W.  T.  Sabine,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Re- 
formed Episcopal  Church,  New  York. 


FRIDAY  AFTERNOON,  NOVEMBER  SEVENTEENTH. 

The  Rev.  David  H.  Bauslik,  D.  D., 

President  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Lutheran  Church  and  Pro- 
fessor in  the  Theological  Department,  Wittenberg  Col- 
lege, Springfield,  Ohio,  Presiding. 


Organ  Prelude. 
2.00    Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  "I  Love  Thy  Kingdom,  Lord." 


1«  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Reading  of  Scripture, 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Roberts,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Welsh 
Presbyterian  Church,  New  York. 

Prayer, 

By  the  Presiding  Officer,  the  Rev.  David  H.  Bauslin,  D.  D. 

2.20    Report  of  Committee  on  Fedebation. 

2.40    Present  Practical  Workings  of  Federation. 

(1)     Ten  Years'  Federative  Work  in  New  York  City, 

The  Rev.  Walter  Laidlaw,  Ph.  D.  (Reformed  Church 
in  America),  Executive  Secretary  of  the  Federation 
of  Churches  and  Christian  Organizations  in  New 
York  City. 

3.00     (2)     In  the  Smaller  Cities  and  Rural  Districts, 

The  Rev.  Edward  Tallmadge  Root  (Congregational), 
Field  Secretary  of  the  Federation  of  Churches  and 
Christian  Workers  of  the  State  of  Rhode  Island, 
Providence,  R.  I. 

3.15     (3)     In  the  States, 

The  Rev.  Alfred  Williams  Anthony,  D.  D.  (Free 
Baptist),  Professor  in  Cobb  Divinity  School,  Lewis- 
ton,  Me.,  and  Secretary  of  the  Interdenominational 
Commission  of  Maine. 

3.30  The  Rev.  J.  Winthrop  Hegeman,  Ph.  D.  (Protestant 

Episcopal),  Field  Secretary  of  Federation  of 
Churches  and  Christian  Workers  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  Ballston  Spa,  N.  Y. 

3.45     (4)     In  Interdenominational  Work, 

The  Rev.  WiUiam  I.  Haven,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Epis- 
copal), Secretary  of  the  American  Bible  Society, 
New  York. 

4.00     (5)     In  the  Foreign  Field. 

India.  The  Rev.  J.  M.  Thoburn,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Mis- 
sionary Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
Bombay,  India. 


PROGRAMME  17 

4.15  The  Philippines.    The  Eev.  James  B.  Kodgers,  D.  D., 

Senior  Missionary  of  the  Preshyterian  Church  in  the 
Philippines. 

4.30  China  and  Korea.     The  Eev.  J.  C.  Garritt,  D.  D.,  Mis- 

sionary of  the  Presb^i^rian  Church,  Central  China, 
Hangchow,  China. 

4.45  Japan.   The  Eev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.  D.,  Correspond- 

ing Secretary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  Boston,  Mass. 

5.00      Benediction. 

The  Eev.  William  E.  Eichards,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Brick 

Presbyterian  Church,  New  York. 


FEIDAY  EVENING,  NOVEMBEE  SEVENTEENTH. 
The  Hon.  Henry  Kieke  Porter,  Member  of  Congress, 

Former  President  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Convention,  Pitts- 
burg, Pa.,  Presiding. 


7.30    Musical  Service. 

8.00    Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  "Onward,  Christian  Soldiers." 

Beading  of  Scripture, 

The  Eev.  E.  K.  Bell,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  First  Lutheran 
Church,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Prayer, 

The  Eev.  H.  W.  Barnes,  D.  D.,  Corresponding  Secretary 
of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Convention  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  Binghamton,  N.  Y. 

A  United  Church  and  the  Fellowship  of  Faith. 

Addresses. 

Our  Faith  in  a  Personal  God, 

The  Eev.  Francis  L.  Patten,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  President  of 
the  Theological  Seminary,  Princeton,  N.  J.  (Address 
not  delivered.) 


18  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Our  Faith  in  Christ — Christ  the  Centre  of  Christianity, 
The  Rev.  William  H.  P.  Faunce,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  (Baptist),, 
President  of  Brown  University,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Our  Faith  in  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
The  Rev.  H.  L.  Willett,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  in  Disciples 
Divinity  House,  University  of  Chicago,  Chicago,  111. 

Our  Faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit, 
The  Rev.  W.  F.  McDowell,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Chicago,  111. 

Benediction. 
The  Rev.  Charles  B.  Jefferson,  D.  D.  (Congregational), 
Pastor  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  New  York. 


SATURDAY  MORNING,  NOVEMBER  EIGHTEENTH. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Ozi  William  Whitaker,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa.,  Presiding. 


Organ  Prelude. 
9.30    Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  "0  God,  Our  Help  in  Ages  Past." 

Reading  of  Scripture, 
The  Rev.  0.  P.  Gifford,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Delaware 
Avenue  Baptist  Church,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Prayer, 
The  Rev.  James  I.  Good,  D.  D.,  Dean  of  the  Ursinus 
School  of  Theology  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 
States. 

9.50     Consideration  of  the  Report  on  Federation. 


PROGRAMME  1» 

11,00    The  Essential  Unity  of  the  Churches. 
Fifteen-mmute  Addresses. 

Joseph  W.  Mauck,  LL.  D..  President  of  Hillsdale  College 
(Free  Baptist),  Hillsdale,  Mich. 

The  Kev.  Robert  F.  Coyle,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Central 
Presbyterian  Church,  Denver,  Colo.,  former  Moderator  of 
the  General  Assembly. 

The  Eev.  R.   P.  Johnston,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Fifth 
Avenue  Baptist  Church,  New  York. 
The  Rev.  F.  T.  Tagg,  D.  D.,  President  of  the  General 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  Balti- 
more, Md. 

The  Rev.  S.  P.  Spreng,  D.  D.  (Evangelical  Association), 
Editor  of  the  "Evangelical  Messenger,"  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Josiah  Strong,  D.  D.  (Congregational),  Presi- 
dent of  the  American  Institute  of  Social  Service,  New 
York. 

The  Rev.  Daniel  A.  Goodsell,  D.  D.,  LL,  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Brookline,  Mass. 

Benediction. 


SUNDAY,  NOVEMBER  NINETEENTH. 

National    Observance   of    the    Day    in    the    Interests    of 

Christian  Unity. 

Ministers  throughout  the  country  requested  to  speak  on  the 
Cooperation  of  the  Churches  as  a  sign  of  the  oneness  of  be- 
lievers.    (John  17:  21.) 


Interdenominational  Meetings  in  the  Interest  of  Young 
People's  Organizations. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  following  Societies: 
The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
The  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor, 
The  Epworth  League, 
The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union, 


20  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  Luther  League, 

The  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew, 

The  Young  People's  Missionary  League  of  the  Keformed 

Church  in  America, 
The  Westminster  League, 
Young  People's  Christian  Union, 
The  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip, 
The  Student  Volunteer  Movement. 


Carnegie  Hall,  3  P.  M. 

Mr.  John  R.  Mott, 

General  Secretary  of  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation, 

Presiding. 

Lord's  Prayer,  by  the  Presiding  Officer. 

Addresses. 
Mr.   Eobert  E.    Speer,   Corresponding   Secretary   of  the 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Woodrow  Wilson,  LL.  D.,  President  of  Princeton  Uni- 
versity, Princeton,  N.  J. 

Hymn,  "Come,  Thou  Almighty  King." 

Reading  of  Scripture, 
Mr.  Silas  McBee,  Editor  of  "The  Churchman,"  New  York. 

Benediction. 
The  Et.  Rev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.  D.,  Bishop-Coadjutor  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  ISTew  York. 


Broadway  Tabernacle,  3  P.  M. 

Mr.  Vox  Ogden  Vogt, 

Secretary  of  the  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  Boston, 

Mass..  Presiding. 

Service  of  Praise. 

Prayer,  by  the  Presiding  Officer. 


PROGRAMME  21 


Hon.  James  A.  Beaver,  former  Governor  of  Pennsylvania. 
Mr.  J.  Campbell  White,  Secretary  of  the  Forward  Move- 
ment of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church. 
Mr.  Von  Ogden  Vogt. 

Benediction. 
The  Eev.  Charles  E.  Seymour,  D.  D.,  Associate  Pastor 
of  Broadway  Tabernacle. 


MONDAY  MORNING,  NOVEMBER  TWENTIETH. 

The  Rev.  A.  W.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Baltimore,  Md. 
Presiding. 


Organ  Prelude. 

9.30    Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  ''Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty." 

Reading  of  Scripture, 
The  Rev.  Charles  A.  Eaton,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Euclid  Ave- 
nue Baptist  Church,  Cleveland,  0. 

Prayer, 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Watters,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  First  Re- 
formed Presbyterian  Church,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

9.50    Business. 

What  Practical  Results  may  be  expected  from  this 
Conference  ? 

10.30  The  Rev.  F.  D.  Power,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Church  of 
Christ  (Disciples),  Washington,  D.  C. 

10.45  The  Rev.  D.  S.  Stephens,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Chancellor  of  the 
Kansas  City  University,  Kansas  City,  Kan.,  former 
President  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  General  Confer- 
ence. 


22  CHVRGB    FEDERATION 

11.00  The  Eev.  Charles  A.  Dickey,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of 
Bethany  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  former 
Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

11.15  The  Eev.  John  Baltzer,  D.  D.,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Home  Missions  of  the  German  Evangelical  Synod,  St. 
Louis,  Mo. 

11.30  The  Eev.  Amory  H.  Bradford,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church,  Montclair,  N.  J.,  former  Mod- 
erator of  the  National  Council  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  of  the  United  States. 

11.45    Discussion. 

12.30    Benediction. 

The  Eev.  Frank  M.  Bristol,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Metropolitan 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Washington,  D.  C. 


MONDAY  AFTEENOON,  NOVEMBEE  TWENTIETH. 


The  Eev.  A.  E.  Dahlman,  D.  D., 

President  of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Eeformed  Church  in  the 

U.  S.  A.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  Presiding. 

Organ  Prelude. 
2.00    Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  "My  Faith  Looks  Up  to  Thee." 

Eeading  of  Scripture. 

Prayer, 
The  Eev.  L.  Call  Barnes,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church,  Worcester,  Mass. 

2.30    Business  and  Committee  Eeports. 

A  United  Church  and  Evangelization. 

3.00     (1)     The  Evangelization  of  American  Cities, 

The  Eev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D.,  Correspond- 
ing Secretary  of  the  National  City  Evangelization 
Union  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  New 
York. 


PROGRAMME  23 

3.20     (2)     The  "Inner  Mission"  of  the  German  Churches, 

The  Eev.  C.  Armand  Miller,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Holy 
Trinity  Lutheran  Church,  New  York. 

3.40     (3)     The  Work  of  Evangelization  Among  the  Negroes, 

The  Rev.  William  B.  Derrick,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop 
of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y. 

4.00     (4)     Interdenominational  Evangelistic  Work, 

The  Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  D.  D.,  Correspond- 
ing Secretary  of  the  Special  Committee  on  Evan- 
gelistic Work  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

4.20  The  Rev.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  D.  D.,  Chairman  of 

the  Committee  on  Evangelistic  Work  of  the  Na- 
tional Council  of  Congregational  Churches  in  the 
United  States,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

4.40    Discussion. 

5.00     Benediction. 

The  Rev.  Henry  M.  King,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  First  Baptist 
Church,  Providence,  R.  I. 


MONDAY  EVENING,  NOVEMBER  TWENTIETH. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Turnbull.  D.  D., 

The  Chairman  of  the  Delegation  from  the  United  Presbjrterian 

Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Presiding. 


7.30     Musical  Service.   "Stand  Up,  Stand  Up,  for  Jesus." 

8.00     Devotional  Service.   "Come,  Thou  Almighty  King." 

Reading  of  Scripture, 
The  Rev.  Thomas  A.  Jaggar,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church,  Boston,  Mass. 


24  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Prayer, 
The  Rev.  Charles  0.  Day,  D.  D.,  President  of  the  Andover 
Theological  Seminary,  Andover,  Mass. 

A  United  Church  and  the  National  Life. 

8.20     (1)     The  Popular  Conscience, 

The  Hon.  Peter  S.  Grosscup,  Judge  of  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court,  Chicago,  111. 

8.45     (2)     Law  and  Justice, 

The  Hon.  David  J.  Brewer,  LL.  D.,  Associate  Jus- 
tice of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

9.10     (3)     Government  by  the  People, 

Henry  Wade  Rogers,  LL.  D.,  Dean  of  the  Law  De- 
partment of  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

9.35    Benediction. 

The  Rev.  Cyrus  D.  Foss,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


TUESDAY  MORNING,  NOVEMBER  TWENTY-FIRST. 

The  Rev.  James  M.  Farrar,  D.  D., 

Pastor  of  the  First  Reformed  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  President 

of  the  General  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 

America,  Presiding. 


Organ  Prelude. 

9.30    Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  "Hail  to  the  Lord's  Anointed." 

Reading  of  Scripture, 
The  Rev.  Bradford  P.  Raymond,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  President 
of  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn. 


PROGRAMME  25 

Prayer, 
The  Rev.  A.  H.  Lewis,  D.  D.,  Editor  of  "The  Sabbath 
Eecorder,"  Plainfield,  N.  J. 

9.50    Business. 

Reading  of  Letter  to  the  Churches. 

A  United  Church  and  Christian  Progress. 


10.30     (1)     Ecclesiastical  Fraternity, 

The  Rev.  S.  Parkes  Cadman,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Cen- 
tral Congregational  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

10.50     (2)     Missionary  Activity, 

The  Rev.  J.  Ross  Stevenson,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Fifth 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York. 

11.10     (3)     Social  Redemption, 

The  Rev.  Ernest  M.  Stires,  D.  D.,  Rector  of  St. 
Thomas  Church,  New  York.  (Address  not  deliv- 
ered.) 

11.30     (4)     World  Conquest, 

The  Rev.  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
President  of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New 
York. 

Discussion. 

12.30    Benediction. 

The  Rev.  George  Wylie  Clinton,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Chariotte,  N.  C. 


TUESDAY    AFTERNOON.    NOVEMBER    TWENTY-FIRST. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

The  Permanent  Chairman  of  the  Conference,  Presiding. 


2.30    Devotional  Service. 

Hymn,  "Blest  be  the  Tie  that  Binds. 


26  CHIRCH    FEDERATION 

Heading  of  Scripture, 
The  Eev.  James  E.  Clark,  D.  D.,  Editor  of  ''The  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian  Church,"  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Prayer, 
The  Eev.  Wayland  Hoyt,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of  the 
Memorial  Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia. 

2.50    Business. 

The  Kingdom  of  God  the  Transcendent  Aim  of  a 
United  Church. 

Addresses. 

3.30     (1)     The  Ideal  State, 

The  Eev.  E.  E.  Hendrix,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Bishop  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Kansas 
City,  Mo. 

The  Ideal  Church, 
The  Et.  Eev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop 
Coadjutor  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of 
New  York. 

Brief  Addresses  on  the  General  Significance  of  the 
Conference. 
The  Hon.  Samuel  B.  Capen,  LL.  D.    (Congregational), 
President  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  Hon.  M.  Linn  Bruce  (Presbyterian),  Lieutenant 
Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

W.  E.  Stoever,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Luther  League, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Hon.  Henry  Kirke  Porter  (Baptist),  Member  of  Congress, 
Pittsburg,  Pa. 

The  Eev.  John  J.  Tigert,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Editor  of  the 
"Methodist  Quarterly  Eeview";  Secretary  of  the  General 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 
Nashville,  Tenn. 

The  Eev.  Wm.  Henry  Eoberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D..  Philadel- 
phia, Pa. 


PROGRAMME  27 

Closing  Address. 
The  Eev.  John  H.  Vincent,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Prayer  and  Benediction. 
The  Eev.  J.  Addison  Henry,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of  the 
Princeton  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  for- 
mer Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 


TUESDAY  EVENING,  NOVEMBER  TWENTY-FIRST. 


1.00  Reception  to  the  delegates  of  the  Conference  at  the  Wal- 
dorf-Astoria, Fifth  Avenue  and  Thirty-fourth  Street, 
by  the  Denominational  Social  Unions  and  Church  Clubs 
of  the  city. 

The  Hon.  M.  Linn  Bruce, 
Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  Presiding. 


Prayer, 

The  Eev.  Wm.  Henr}^  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Reading  of  Scriptures, 

The  Rev.  Henry  A.  Stimson,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Man- 
hattan Congregational  Church,  New  York. 

Address  in  Behalf  of  the  Unions, 

The  Eev.  Donald  Sage  Mackay,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Col- 
legiate Church  (Eeformed  Church  in  America),  Fifth 
Avenue  and  Forty-eighth  Street,  New  York. 

Eesponse  in  Behalf  of  Delegates, 

The  Eev.  Kerr  Boyce  Tupper,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of 
the  Madison  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  New  York. 

Benediction. 
The  Et.  Eev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  Co- 
adjutor of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  New  York. 


THE    LETTER    MISSIVE* 

Fathers  and  Brethren: 

Permit  us  to  address  you  on  the  subject  of  the  cooperative  rela- 
tionsliip  of  the  Churches  of  Jesus  Christ  in  Christian  Work. 

The  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers 
has  for  its  object  to  promote  the  cooperation  of  churches  of  various 
communions  through  the  formation  of  State  and  local  Federations 
in  order  to  secure  united  and  effective  effort  in  religious  and  moral 
movements  vital  to  the  welfare  of  churches  and  communities.  In 
the  four  years  of  its  existence  the  National  Federation  has  accom- 
plished much  in  fostering  the  principles  and  giving  an  impetus  to 
the  practical  workings  of  Federation.  In  a  number  of  cities  and 
towns  the  federated  churches  have  in  concerted  effort  taken  a  relig- 
ious census  of  the  population,  organized  successful  cooperative 
parish  work,  discovered  and  directed  to  the  churches  of  their  choice 
families  that  had  dropped  away  from  church  attendance,  and  thus 
saved  many  who  otherwise  would  have  been  utterly  lost  to  the 
churches.  In  some  cities  the  work  of  local  federations  has  been 
directed  to  the  concentration  of  effort  for  the  removal  of  social  evils, 
the  cleansing  of  the  centres  of  vice  and  corruption,  and  the  promo- 
tion of  temperance,  Sabbath  observance  and  general  morality.  The 
affiliation  of  the  local  churches  has  often  proved  a  beneficent  moral 
force  in  the  administration  of  civic  affairs.  In  a  number  of  the 
States  the  National  Federation  has  aided  in  the  formation  of  State 
organizations,  which  direct  the  work  in  their  several  States.  This 
has  required  the  approval  and  aid  of  the  State  Synods,  Conferences 
and  Conventions  of  the  several  denominations,  and  their  cooper- 
ation has  been  freely  given.  These  State  and  local  federations 
have  made  somewhat  clearer  to  the  world  outside  what  is  the  essen- 
tial unity  which  underlies  denominational  diversity. 

We  believe  that  the  growing  interest  in  Federation  and  the 
widespread  conviction  of  the  great  possibilities  contained  in  federa- 
tive movements  indicate  that  the  time  is  opportune  for  the  exten- 
sion and  strengthening  of  the  principles  of  Federation.  A  national 
society  like  ours,  however,  cannot  undertake  the  immense  task  of 
organizing  cooperative  work  in  the  thousands  of  cities  and  tens  of 
thousands  of  towns  in  our  country.     It  has  neither  authority  nor 


*This  Letter,  requesting  the  appointment  of  Delegates  to  the  Inter- 
Church  Conference  on  Federation,  was  sent  out  by  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers. 


30  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

desire  to  intervene  in  the  great  questions  wliich  vitally  concern  the 
various  denominations  as  denominations.  We  believe  that  the  great 
Christian  bodies  in  our  country  should  stand  together  and  lead  in 
the  discussion  of,  and  give  an  impulse  to,  all  .great  movements  that 
"make  for  righteousness.''  We  believe  that  questions  like  that  of 
the  saloon,  marriage  and  divorce.  Sabbath  desecration,  the  social 
evil,  child  labor,  relation  of  labor  to  capital,  the  bettering  of  the 
conditions  of  the  laboring  classes,  the  moral  and  religious  training 
of  the  young,  the  problem  created  by  foreign  immigration,  and 
international  arbitration — indeed,  all  great  questions  in  which  the 
voice  of  the  churches  should  be  heard — concern  Christians  of  every 
name,  and  demand  their  united  and  concerted  action  if  the  Church 
is  to  lead  eifectively  in  the  conquest  of  the  world  for  Christ. 

It  is  our  conviction  that  there  should  be  a  closer  union  of  the 
forces  and  a  more  effective  use  of  the  resources  of  the  Christian 
churches  in  the  different  cities  and  towns,  and,  when  feasible,  in 
other  communities  and  fields,  with  a  view  to  an  increase  of  power 
and  of  results  in  all  Christian  work. 

The  experience  of  the  National  Federation  has  made  it  clear 
that  very  many  of  the  churches  of  the  several  communions  are  ready 
to  come  closer  together  in  the  common  service  of  the  Master.  This 
has  led  us  to  raise  the  question  whether  a  more  visible,  effective  and 
comprehensive  fellowship  and  effort  are  not  desirahle  and  attain- 
able. 

And  yet  we  might  not  have  considered  it  to  be  our  duty  to  pro- 
pose action  to  this  end  if  the  suggestion  and  request  had  not  been 
directly  brought  to  us  through  formal  ecclesiastical  channels.  It 
has  been  said  to  us  that  it  might  seem  presuming  for  any  one 
denomination  to  make  such  a  proposal  to  the  other  denominations, 
but  that  such  a  proposal  could  better  come  from  an  organization 
like  ours,  which  includes  representatives  of  the  various  denomi- 
nations. 

We  therefore  take  the  liberty  to  address  you. 
In  order  to  secure  an  effective  organization  of  the  various  Prot- 
estant communions  of  this  country  for  the  practical  ends  indicated, 
we  would  suggest  that  a  conference  of  representatives  accredited  by 
the  national  bodies  of  said  Protestant  denominations  meet  in  New 
York  City,  November,  1905,  to  form  such  a  representative  organi- 
zation as  may  seem  proper  to  them.  It  is  understood  that  its  basis 
would  not  be  one  of  creedal  statement  or  governmental  form,  but  of 
cooperative  work  and  effort.     It  is  also  understood  that  the  organi- 


THE     LETTER     MISSIVE  31 

zation  shall  have  power  only  to  advise  the  constituent  bodies  rep- 
resented. 

We  invite  your  hearty  cooperation  and  participation  by  reprcv- 
eentation. 

We  would  take  the  liberty  more  definitely  to  suggest  that  the 
number  of  representatives  from  each  denomination  be  50  for  such 
as  number  500,000  and  upwards,  10  for  such  as  number  100,000 
and  upwards,  and  not  more  than  5  for  those  numbering  less  than 
100,000. 

We  do  noL  ask  you  to  develop  or  adopt  our  organization.  Ours 
is  a  voluntary  federation.  What  we  propose  is  a  federation  of 
denominations,  to  be  created  by  the  denominations  themselves.  We 
have  no  elaborated  plan  or  scheme  of  organization  to  present  for 
approval.     That  would  not  be  proper. 

We  do  not  desire  to  present  arguments  in  support  of  such  a 
federation.  We  doubt  not  that  all  will  agree  that  the  different 
Christian  communions,  largely  one  in  Spirit  and  devoted  to  one 
Lord,  should,  by  united  effort,  make  visible  to  the  world  their 
catholic  unity,  that  the  world  may  know  "Him  whom  the  Father 
hath  sent,"  and  at  length  His  prayer  for  the  oneness  of  His  people 
may  be  more  fully  answered.  If  tliis  seems  to  you,  as  it  does  to 
us,  an  ol)ject  to  be  partly  achieved  in  the  way  we  suggest,  we  ask 
your  consideration  and  approval  of  our  proposal. 

We  also  suggest,  if  this  proposal  be  approved,  that  you  authorize 
the  National  Federation  to  act  in  making  arrangements  prelimi- 
nary to  the  meeting  of  the  Conference  of  the  representatives  of  the 
churches,  and  it  is  requested,  in  that  case,  that  you  appoint  one  per- 
son who  shall  be  your  special  representative  for  purposes  of  corre- 
spondence with  the  committee  of  arrangements  for  the  Conference. 

Wishing  you  the  Divine  blessing  on  your  deliberations  and  on 

the  Churches  which  you  represent,  we  are,  Fathers  and  Brethren, 

Yours  in  the  service  of  our  common  Lord  and  Master, 

J.  Cleveland  Cady,  President. 

Elias  B.  Sanford,  Secretary. 

William  Hayes  Wabd,  of  the  Congregational  Churches ; 
William  Henby  Robeets,  of  the  Presbyterian  Alliance ; 
Chables  L.  Thompson,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  U.  S.  A. ; 
John  B.  Calveet,  of  the  Baptist  Churches ; 
Henby  L.  Moeehouse,  of  the  Baptist  Churches ; 
Fbank  Mason  Noeth,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ; 
William  I.  Haven,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ; 
Joachim  Elmendobf,  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America ; 
Geobge  U.  Wennee,  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  General  Synod; 
RrviNGTON  D:  LoED,  of  the  Freewill  Baptist  Churches, 

Committee  on  Cobeespondence. 


REV.  WM.  H.  EGBERTS.  D.D.,  LL.D.        REV.  BISHOP  E.  R.  HE>-T)RIX,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


REV.  WM.  HAYES  WARD,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


REV.  JOHN  B.  CALVERT,  D.D. 


PLAN    OF   FEDERATION 

Recommended    to  the    Constituent  Christian    Bodies 
FOR  Their  Approval 


PEEAMBLE. 

Whereas,  In  the  providence  of  God,  the  time  has  come  when 
it  seems  fitting  more  fully  to  manifest  the  essential  oneness  of  the 
Christian  Churches  of  America,  in  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Divine  Lord 
and  Saviour,  and  to  promote  the  spirit  of  fellowship,  service  and 
cooperation  among  them,  the  delegates  to  the  Inter-Church  Con- 
ference on  Federation,  assembled  in  New  York  City,  do  hereby 
recommend  the  following  Plan  of  Federation  to  the  Christian  bodies 
represented  in  this  Conference  for  their  approval : 

PLAN  OF  FEDERATION. 

1.  For  the  prosecution  of  work  that  can  be  better  done  in 
union  than  in  separation  a  Council  is  hereby  established  whose 
name  shall  be  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America. 

2.  The  following  Christian  bodies  shall  be  entitled  to  repre- 
sentation in  this  Federal  Council  on  their  approval  of  the  purpose 
and  plan  of  the  organization : 

The  Baptist  Churches  of  the  United  States. 

The  Free  Baptist  General  Conference. 

The  Christians  (The  Christian  Connection). 

The  Congregational  Churches. 

The  Disciples  of  Christ. 

The  Evangelical  Association. 

The  Evangelical  Synod  of  North  America. 

The  Friends. 

The  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  General  Synod. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 

The  Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

The  Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  America. 

The  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 

The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


34  CHVRCH    FEDERATION 

The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church. 

The  General  Conference  of  the  Mennonite  Church  of  North 

America. 
The  Moravian  Church. 
The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 
The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  or  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  United  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 
The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 
The  Reformed  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 
The  Reformed  Episcopal  Church. 
The  Seventh  Day  Baptist  Churches. 
The  United  Brethren  in  Christ. 
The  United  Evangelical  Church. 

3.  The  object  of  this  Federal  Council  shall  be — 

I.  To  express  the  fellowship  and  catholic  unity  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church. 

II.  To  bring  the  Christian  bodies  of  America  into  united  ser- 
vice for  Christ  and  the  world. 

III.  To  encourage  devotional  fellowship  and  mutual  counsel 
concerning  the  spiritual  life  and  religious  activities  of 
the  Churches. 

IV.  To  secure  a  larger  combined  influence  for  the  Churches 
of  Christ  in  all  matters  affecting  the  moral  and  social 
condition  of  the  people,  so  as  to  promote  the  applica- 
tion of  the  law  of  Christ  in  every  relation  of  human  life. 

V.  To  assist  in  the  organization  of  local  branches  of  the 
Federal  Council  to  promote  its  aims  in  their  commu- 
nities. 

4,  This  Federal  Council  shall  have  no  authority  over  the  con- 
stituent bodies  adhering  to  it;  but  its  province  shall  be  limited  to 
the  expression  of  its  counsel  and  the  recommending  of  a  course  of 
action  in  matters  of  common  interest  to  the  Churches,  local  coun- 
cils and  individual  Christians. 


PLAN     OF    FEDERATION  35 

It  has  no  authority  to  draw  up  a  common  creed  or  form  of  gov- 
ernment or  of  worship,  or  in  any  way  to  limit  the  full  autonomy 
of  the  Christian  bodies  adhering  to  it. 

5.  Members  of  this  Federal  Council  shall  be  appointed  as  fol- 
lows: 

Each  of  the  Christian  bodies  adhering  to  this  Federal  Council 
shall  be  entitled  to  four  members,  and  shall  be  further  entitled  to 
one  member  for  every  50,000  of  its  communicants  or  major  frac- 
tion thereof.  The  question  of  representation  of  local  councils  shaJl 
be  referred  to  the  several  constituent  bodies,  and  to  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Federal  Council. 

6.  Any  action  to  be  taken  by  this  Federal  Council  shall  be  by 
the  general  vote  of  its  members.  But  in  case  one-third  of  the  mem- 
bers present  and  voting  request  it,  the  vote  shall  be  by  the  bodies 
represented,  the  members  of  each  body  voting  separately ;  and  action 
shall  require  the  vote,  not  only  of  a  majority  of  the  members  voting, 
but  also  of  the  bodies  represented. 

7.  Other  Christian  bodies  may  be  admitted  into  membership  of 
this  Federal  Council  on  their  request  if  approved  by  a  vote  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  members  voting  at  a  session  of  this  council,  and  of 
two-thirds  of  the  bodies  represented,  the  representatives  of  each 
body  voting  separately. 

8.  The  Federal  Council  shall  meet  in  December,  1908,  and 
thereafter  once  in  every  four  years. 

9.  The  officers  of  this  Federal  Council  shall  be  a  President, 
one  Vice-President  from  each  of  its  constituent  bodies,  a  Corre- 
sponding Secretary,  a  Eecording  Secretary,  a  Treasurer,  and  an 
Executive  Committee,  who  shall  perform  the  duties  usually  assigned 
to  such  officers. 

The  Corresponding  Secretary  shall  aid  in  organi2ing  and  assist- 
ing local  councils  and  shall  represent  the  Federal  Council  in  its 
work,  under  the  direction  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  consist  of  seven  ministers  and 
seven  laymen,  together  with  the  President,  all  ex-Presidents,  the 
Corresponding  Secretary,  the  Recording  Secretary  and  the  Treas- 
urer. The  Executive  Committee  shall  have  authority  to  attend  to 
all  business  of  the  Federal  Council  in  the  intervals  of  its  meetings 
and  to  fill  any  vacancies. 


36  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

All  officers  shall  be  chosen  at  the  quadrennial  meetings  of  the 
Council,  and  shall  hold  their  offices  until  their  successors  take  office. 

The  President,  Vice-Presidents,  the  Corresponding  Secretary, 
the  Kecording  Secretary  and  the  Treasurer  shall  be  elected  by  the 
Federal  Council  on  nomination  by  the  Executive  Committee. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  be  elected  by  ballot  after  nomi- 
nation by  a  Nominating  Committee. 

10.  This  Plan  of  Federation  may  be  altered  or  amended  by  a 
majority  vote  of  the  members,  followed  by  a  majority  vote  of  the 
representatives  of  the  several  constituent  bodies,  each  body  voting 
separately. 

11.  The  expenses  of  the  Federal  CouncU  shall  be  provided  for 
by  the  several  constituent  bodies. 

This  Plan  of  Federation  shall  become  operative  when  it  shall 
have  been  approved  by  two-thirds  of  the  above  bodies  to  which  it 
shall  be  presented. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  delegation  to  this  Conference  to 
present  this  Plan  of  Federation  to  its  national  body,  and  ask  its 
consideration  and  proper  action. 

In  case  this  Plan  of  Federation  is  approved  by  two-thirds  of  the 
proposed  constituent  bodies  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers,  which 
has  called  this  Conference,  is  requested  to  call  the  Federal  Council 
to  meet  at  a  fitting  place  in  December,  1908. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  INTER -CHURCH 
CONFERENCE  ON  FEDERATION 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  INTER- CHURCH  CONFER- 
ENCE ON  FEDERATION. 

Edited  by  the  Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D.,  Chairman  of  the 
Secretaries. 


The  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation  assembled  for  the 
opening  session  of  welcome  at  Carnegie  Hall,  New  York,  on 
Wednesday  evening,  November  15,  1905,  at  eight  o'clock.  After  an 
organ  prelude  by  Mr.  S.  Archer  Gibson,  the  Conference  was  called 
to  order  by  the  Rev.  William  H.  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  chairman 
of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements 
appointed  by  the  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian 
Workers  to  convene  the  Conference.    Dr.  Roberts  spoke  as  follows : 

''Christian  brethren,  ladies  and  gentlemen :  The  Churches  rep- 
resented in  this  Conference  authorized  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  to 
make  the  preliminary  arrangements  for  the  meeting.  These 
arrangements  have  been  perfected,  and  report  will  be  made  con- 
cerning them  in  detail  to-morrow  morning  in  due  course  of  busi- 
ness. In  the  name  of  the  Executive  Committee,  I  declare  this 
Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation,  representing  eighteen  mill- 
ions of  communicants  of  Christian  Churches  in  the  United  States, 
open, — in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.     Amen. 

"I  introduce  as  chairman  of  the  evening,  J.  Cleveland  Cady, 
LL.  D.,  President  of  the  National  Federation  of  Churches  and 
Christian  Workers." 

Dr.  Cady  took  the  chair. 

Then  followed  the  devotional  service. 

The  invocation  of  the  Divine  blessing  was  made  by  the  Rev. 
Joachim  Elmendorf,  D.  D.,  Senior  Pastor  of  the  First  (Reformed) 
Collegiate  Church  of  Harlem,  New  York : 

Almighty  and  eternal  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  help  us  from  our 
hearts  to  echo  the  adoration  of  the  man  after  Thine  own  heart :  "Thine, 
O  Lord,  is  the  greatness  and  the  power  and  the  glory  and  the  majesty ; 

39 


40  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

for  all  that  is  in  heaven  and  in  the  earth  is  Thine;  Thine  is  the  Ifing- 
dom,  O  Lord,  and  Thou  art  exalted  as  Head  above  all."  We  adore  Thee 
as  the  Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  universe.  Thine  infinite  wisdom  con- 
ceived its  mighty  plan ;  Thine  infinite  power  called  it  into  actual  exist- 
ence; Thine  infinite  control  by  eternal  purpose  and  the  mysterious  be- 
stowment  of  moral  freedom  on  finite  beings  is  achieving  its  sublime  end. 
We  praise  Thee  that  that  end  will  be  the  solution  of  evil  in  the  full  and 
final  triumph  of  the  good.  We  bless  Thee  for  the  earnest  of  that  great 
victory  in  the  multiplying  ameliorations  of  the  conditions  of  our  sinning 
and  suffering  humanity.  We  bless  Thee  that  Thou  didst  send  Thine 
eternal  Son  into  the  world,  not  to  condemn,  but  to  save  sinners ;  through 
His  death  to  destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  death ;  to  ascend  up  on 
high  leading  captivity  captive,  and  to  reign  until  He  had  put  all  enemies 
under  His  feet.  We  bless  Thee  that  by  the  inspiration  of  His  word  and 
spirit  His  followers  are  pressing  forward  and  His  kingdom  is  coming. 
O  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  we  hail  this  impressively  providential 
gathering  of  Thine  own,  with  their  avowed  and  cherished  purpose,  as  a 
distinct  advance — "a  new  alignment  of  Christian  forces"  against  the 
rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this  world— the  outcome  of  whose  deliberations 
shall  have  worldwide  importance.  To  this  end,  O  gracious  Holy  Spirit, 
take  Thou  such  possession  of  this  Conference  and  so  control  it  that  the 
thoughts,  the  words,  the  prayers  and  the  praises  of  every  member  of  it 
shall  harmonize  with  and  help  to  reveal  and  realize  the  meaning  of 
Jesus'  own  prayer :  "That  they  all  may  be  one,  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in 
me  and  I  in  Thee :  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us,  that  the  world  may 
know  that  Thou  hast  sent  me."  And  all  the  glory  and  praise  shall  be  to 
our  loving  and  faithful  triune  God  and  Saviour,  world  without  end. 
Amen. 

The  hymn,  "Come,  Thou  Almighty  King,"  was  sung. 

The  Holy  Scriptures,  Ephesians  4:  1-6;  John  17:  21-23,  were 
read  by  the  Eev.  J.  B.  Remensnyder,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  pastor  of  St. 
James  Lutheran  Church,  New  York. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Eev.  Charles  H.  Fowler,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  New  York. 

The  chairman.  Dr.  Cady,  addressed  the  Conference.  (See 
page  125.) 

The  letter  received  from  the  President  of  the  United  States  in 
response  to  the  invitation  to  attend  this  opening  meeting  and  to 
become  Honorary  Chairman  of  the  Conference  was  read  by  Dr. 
Roberts : 

Oysteb  Bay,  N.  Y..  July  8,  1905. 
My  Dear  Dr.  Roberts:— 

I  have  your  letter  of  the  seventh.  Indeed,  I  remember  very  well 
the  call  of  your  delegation  upon  me  and  our  talk  upon  the  proposed 
meeting  of  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation. 


PROCEEDINGS     OF     THE     CONFERENCE  41 

I  have  the  very  highest  sympathy  with  the  movement ;  for  instance, 
I  feel  that  indirectly,  in  addition  to  the  great  good  it  will  do  here,  it  is 
perfectly  possible  that  the  movement  may  have  a  very  considerable 
effect  in  the  Christianizing  of  Japan,  which  I  feel  to  be  retarded  by  the 
divisions  among  ourselves  and  by  the  failure  to  recognize  the  fact  that 
the  Christian  Church  in  Japan  must  of  course  assume  essentially  a 
Japanese  national  form. 

So  you  see  I  have  a  very  real  interest  in  what  you  are  doing,  and 
only  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  attend  the  meeting,  as  you  request, 
but  I  regret  to  say  that  it  is  out  of  the  question  for  me  to  do  so. 

I  am  genuinely  sorry  to  have  to  write  you  thus. 
Sincerely  yours, 

Theodore  Roosevelt. 

An  address  of  welcome  for  the  City  of  New  York  was  given  by 
the  President  of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  the  Honorable  Martin 
W.  Littleton,  in  the  absence  of  His  Honor,  the  Mayor  of  the  city, 
George  B.  McClellan,  LL.  D.  (See  page  129.) 

The  Rev.  Charles  L.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Home  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  welcomed  the  dele- 
gates and  other  visitors  on  behalf  of  the  National  Federation  of 
Churches  and  Christian  Workers.     (See  page  133.) 

The  address  of  welcome  by  the  Eev.  Robert  S.  MacArthur, 
D.  D.,  LL.D.,  Pastor  of  Calvary  Baptist  Church,  as  representing 
the  churches  of  the  city,  was  postponed  to  the  following  morning 
owing  to  the  absence  of  the  speaker,  whose  arrival  had  been  de- 
layed. The  hymn,  "The  Church's  One  Foundation,'*  was  sung. 
The  benediction  was  pronounced  hy  the  Right  Rev.  Frederick  Bur- 
gess, D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  Long 
Island,  N.  Y.  

THURSDAY  MORNING,  NOVEMBER  SIXTEENTH. 

The  Conference  assembled  at  9  :30  a.  m.  The  Rev.  Washington 
Gladden.  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  Moderator  of  the  National  Council 
of  the  Congregational  Churches  of  the  United  States,  presided. 

The  hymn,  "My  Faith  Looks  Up  to  Thee,"  was  sung.  A  selec- 
tion from  the  Scriptures,  John  15:  1-16,  was  read  hy  John  H. 
Converse,  LL.  D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  chairman  of  the  Evangelistic 
Committee  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America. 

The  Rev.  Rudolph  Dubs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  United 
Evangelical  Church.  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  offered  prayer. 


42  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  Kev.  K.  S.  MacArthur,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  addressed  the  Con- 
ference, extending  the  welcome  of  the  churches  of  the  city.  (See 
page  140.) 

The  Eev.  William  H.  Eoberte.  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Church  Cooperation  and  Union  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, and  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee,  presented  the  re- 
port of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  appointed  to  convene  the 
Conference.    The  report  was  as  follows : 

To  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation. 

Dear  Brethren:  The  Executive  Committee  of  the  National 
Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers,  in  reporting  to  the 
Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation,  has  the  honor,  first  of  all, 
to  congratulate  the  Conference  that  so  many  American  Christian 
Churches  are  represented  in  the  Conference,  and  by  so  distinguished 
a  body  of  delegates;  and,  second,  to  felicitate  the  Churches  repre- 
sented that  the  appointment  of  delegates  has  been  so  generally  will- 
ing and  cordial.  We  extend  to  the  delegates  themselves  cordial 
fraternal  greetings.  "Behold  how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for 
brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity." 

The  report  is  necessarily  confined  to  the  work  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  from  the  time  it  was  empowered  to  act  for  the 
Churches  assembled  in  the  Conference. 

One  of  the  first  suggestions  looking  toward  this  present  Con- 
ference came  from  the  Committee  on  Comity,  Federation  and 
Unity,  appointed  in  1901  by  the  National  Council  of  the  Congre- 
gational Churches,  and  was  made  to  the  National  Federation  of 
Churches  and  Christian  Workers.  In  response  to  this  and  other 
suggestions  the  National  Federation,  at  its  session  in  Washington, 
D.  C,  February  4  and  5,  1902,  passed  the  following  resolution: 

That  a  Committee  of  Correspondence  be  appointed  to  act  in  behalf 
of  the  Federation  in  requesting  the  highest  ecclesiastical  or  advisory 
Boards  of  the  evangelical  denominations  in  our  country  to  appoint  rep- 
resentative delegates  to  a  Conference  to  be  held  in  the  autumn  of  1905. 

The  Committee  of  Correspondence  thus  constituted  was  com- 
posed of  the  following  persons: 

William  Hayes  Ward,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  the  Congregational 
Churches. 

William  Henry  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  the  Alliance  of  the 
Preebyterian  and  Reformed  Churches. 


REPORT     OF     THE     EXECUTIVE     COMMITTEE  43 

Charles  L.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

John  B.  Calvert,  D.  D.,  of  the  Baptist  Churches. 

Henry  L.  Morehouse,  D.  D.,  of  the  Baptist  Churches. 

Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

William  I.  Haven,  D.  D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Joachim  Elmendorf,  D.  D.,  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

George  U.  Wenner,  D.  D.,  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 

Eivington  D.  Lord,  D.  D.,  of  the  Free  Baptist  Churches,  with 

J.  Cleveland  Cady,  LL.  D.,  President  of  the  National  Federa- 
tion, and 

Elias  B.  Sanford,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  National  Federation, 
as  members  ex  officio. 

The  Committee  on  Correspondence  prepared  with  much  care 
a  letter  of  invitation  to  be  sent  to  the  governing  or  advisory  bodies 
of  the  Churches.  In  connection  with  the  invitations  we  have  to 
state  that  there  was  no  intention  at  any  time  to  invite  all  the 
Churches.  There  are  about  140  different  denominations  in  the 
United  States  of  America  claiming  the  name  of  Christian.  A 
careful  study  of  the  situation  led  to  the  conclusion  that  effort 
should  be  made  to  bring  into  the  Conference  only  the  larger 
Churches,  and  those  which  were  already  in  fraternal  relations  and 
in  substantial  agreement  as  to  fundamental  Christian  doctrine. 
The  letter  was  addressed,  therefore,  to  a  selected  list,  and  in  strict 
conformity  with  the  terms  of  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  Na- 
tional Federation  in  1902,  directing  the  committee  to  approach 
the  highest  ecclesiastical  or  advisory  boards  of  the  evangelical 
denominations.   The  letter  is  as  follows: 

Fathers  and  Brethren  : — 

Permit  us  to  address  you  on  the  subject  of  the  cooperative  relation- 
ship of  the  Churches  of  Jesus  Christ  in  Christian  work. 

The  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  has 
for  its  object  to  promote  the  cooperation  of  Churches  of  various  com- 
munions through  the  formation  of  State  and  local  federations  in  order 
to  secure  united  and  effective  effort  in  religious  and  moral  movements 
vital  to  the  welfare  of  churches  and  communities.  In  the  four  years 
of  its  existence  the  National  Federation  has  accomplished  much  in 
fostering  the  principles  and  giving  an  impetus  to  the  practical  workings 
of  Federation,  In  a  number  of  cities  and  towns  the  federated  churches 
have  in  concerted  effort  taken  a  religious  census  of  the  population, 
organized  successful  cooperative  parish  work,  discovered  and  directed  to 


44  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

the  churches  of  their  choice  families  that  had  dropped  away  from 
church  attendance,  and  thus  saved  many  who  otherwise  would  have 
been  utterly  lost  to  the  churches.  In  some  cities,  the  work  of  local 
federations  has  been  directed  to  the  concentration  of  effort  for  the 
removal  of  social  evils,  the  cleansing  of  the  centres  of  vice  and  cor- 
ruption, and  the  promotion  of  temperance.  Sabbath  observance  and  gen- 
eral morality.  The  affiliation  of  the  local  churches  has  often  proved  a 
beneficent  moral  force  in  the  administration  of  civic  affairs.  In  a  num- 
ber of  the  States,  the  National  Federation  has  aided  in  the  formation 
of  State  organizations,  which  direct  the  work  in  their  .'several  States. 
This  has  required  the  approval  and  aid  of  the  State  Synods,  Conferences 
and  Conventions  of  the  several  denominations  and  their  cooperation  has 
been  freely  given.  These  State  and  local  federations  have  made  some- 
what clearer  to  the  world  outside  what  is  the  essential  unity  which 
underlies  denominational  diversity. 

We  believe  that  the  growing  interest  in  Federation  and  the  wide- 
spread conviction  of  the  great  possibilities  contained  in  federative 
movements,  indicate  that  the  time  is  opportune  for  the  extension  and 
strengthening  of  the  principles  of  Federation.  A  national  society  like 
ours,  however,  cannot  undertake  the  immense  task  of  organizing  co- 
operative work  in  the  thousands  of  cities  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
towns  in  our  country.  It  has  neither  authority  nor  desire  to  interfere  in 
the  great  questions  which  vitally  concern  the  various  denominations  as 
denominations.  We  believe  that  the  great  Christian  bodies  in  our  coun- 
try should  stand  together  and  lead  in  the  discussion  of,  and  give  an 
impulse  to,  all  great  movements  that  "make  for  righteousness."  We 
believe  that  questions  like  that  of  the  saloon,  marriage  and  divorce. 
Sabbath  desecration,  the  social  evil,  child-labor,  relation  of  labor  to 
capital,  the  bettering  of  the  conditions  of  the  laboring  classes,  the  moral 
and  religious  training  of  the  young,  the  problem  created  by  foreign 
immigration,  and  international  arbitration — indeed  all  great  questions 
in  which  the  voice  of  the  churches  should  be  heard — concern  Christians 
of  every  name  and  demand  their  united  and  concerted  action  if  the 
Church  is  to  lead  effectively  in  the  conquest  of  the  world  for  Christ. 

It  is  our  conviction  that  there  should  be  a  closer  union  of  forces  and 
a  more  effective  use  of  the  resources  of  the  Christian  churches  in  the 
different  cities  and  towns,  and,  when  feasible,  in  other  communities  and 
fields,  with  a  view  to  an  increase  of  power  and  of  results  in  all 
Christian  work. 

The  experience  of  the  National  Federation  has  made  it  clear  that 
very  many  of  the  churches  of  the  several  communions  are  ready  to  come 
closer  together  in  the  common  service  of  the  Master.  This  has  led  us 
to  raise  the  question  whether  a  more  visible,  effective  and  comprehensive 
fellowship  and  effort  are  not  desirable  and  attainable. 

And  yet,  we  might  not  have  considered  it  to  be  our  duty  to  propose 
action  to  this  end  if  the  suggestion  and  request  had  not  been  directly 
brought  to  us  through  formal  ecclesiastical  channels.  It  has  been  said 
to  us  that  it  might  seem  presuming  for  any  one  denomination  to  make 
such  a  proposal  to  the  other  denominations,  but  that  such  a  proposal 


REPORT     OF     THE     EXECUTIVE     COMMITTEE  45 

could  better  come  from  an  organization  lilie  ours  which  includes  repre- 
sentatives of  the  various  denominations. 

We,  therefore,  take  the  liberty  to  address  you. 

In  order  to  secure  an  effective  organization  of  the  various  Protestant 
communions  of  this  country  for  the  practical  ends  indicated,  we  would 
suggest  that  a  conference  of  representatives  accredited  by  the  national 
bodies  of  said  Protestant  denominations  meet  in  New  Yorli  City, 
November,  1905,  to  form  such  a  representative  organization  as  may 
seem  proper  to  them.  It  is  understood  that  its  basis  would  not  be  one 
of  creedal  statement  or  governmental  form,  but  of  cooperative  work  and 
effort.  It  is  also  understood  that  the  organization  shall  have  power  only 
to  advise  the  constituent  bodies  represented. 

We  invite  your  hearty  cooperation  and  participation  by  repre- 
sentation. 

We  would  take  the  liberty  more  definitely  to  suggest  that  the  num- 
ber of  representatives  from  each  denomination  be  50  for  such  as  number 
500,000  and  upwards,  10  for  such  as  number  100,000  and  upwards  and 
not  more  than  5  for  those  numbering  less  than  100,000. 

We  do  not  ask  you  to  develop  or  adopt  our  organization.  Ours  is  a 
voluntary  federation.  What  we  propose  is  a  federation  of  denomina- 
tions, to  be  created  by  the  denominations  themselves.  We  have  no 
elaborated  plan  or  scheme  of  organization  to  present  for  approval.  That 
would  not  be  proper. 

We  do  not  desire  to  present  arguments  in  support  of  such  a 
federation.  We  doubt  not  that  all  will  agree  that  the  different  Christian 
communions,  largely  one  in  spirit  and  devoted  to  one  Lord,  should,  by 
united  effort,  make  visible  to  the  world  their  catholic  unity,  that  the 
world  may  know  "Him  whom  the  Father  hath  sent"  and  that  at  length 
His  prayer  for  the  oneness  of  His  people  may  be  more  fully  answered. 
If  this  seems  to  you  as  it  does  to  us,  an  object  to  be  partly  achieved  in 
the  way  we  suggest,  we  ask  your  consideration  and  approval  of  our 
proposal. 

We  also  suggest,  if  this  proposal  be  approved,  that  you  authorize 
the  National  Federation  to  act  in  making  arrangements  preliminary  to 
the  meeting  of  the  Conference  of  the  representatives  of  the  Churches, 
and  it  is  requested,  in  that  case,  that  you  appoint  one  person  who  shall 
be  your  special  representative  for  purposes  of  correspondence  with  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements  for  the  Conference. 

Wishing  you  the  Divine  blessing  on  your  deliberations  and  on  the 
Churches  which  you  represent,  we  are.  Fathers  and  Brethren, 

Yours  in  the  service  of  our  common  Lord  and  Master, 

Wm.  Hayes  Ward,  William   I.   Haven, 

Wm.  H.  Roberts,  Joachim  Elmendobf, 

Charles  L.  Thompson,  George    U.    Wenneb, 

John  B.  Calvert,  Rivington  D.  Lord, 

Henry  L.  Morehouse,  J.   Cleveland  Cady, 

Frank  Mason  North,  Elias  B.  Sanford. 


46  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  Letter  of  Invitation  has  received  an  affirmative  response 
from  twenty-eight  Churches.  The  resolutions  adopted  in  connec- 
tion therewith  and  expressive  of  church  action,  emphasized  either 
the  great  importance  of  the  Conference,  its  vital  relation  to  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  Church  and  Nation,  or  the  essential  unity 
of  the  evangelical  Churches. 

The  Letter  contains  the  following  definite  statements  as  to  the 
nature,  objects  and  powers  of  the  movement  and  the  limitation  upon 
the  possible  powers  of  any  organization  to  be  effected  for  the  carry- 
ing out  of  the  objects.     These,  arranged  in  order,  are  as  follows : 

1.  Nature  of  the  Movement  :  "What  we  propose  is  a  feder- 
ation of  denominations  to  be  created  by  the  denominationfi  them- 
selves. We  have  no  elaborated  plan  or  scheme  of  organization  to 
present  for  approval." 

2.  Objects  :  "We  beKeve  that  the  great  Christian  bodies  in 
our  country  should  stand  together,  should  lead  in  the  discussion  of 
and  give  impulse  to  all  great  movements  that  make  for  righteous- 
ness. We  believe  that  questions  like  those  of  marriage  and  divorce, 
Sabbath  desecration,  social  evils,  child  labor,  the  relation  of  labor  to 
capital,  problems  that  are  created  by  foreign  immigration,  the  bet- 
tering of  the  conditions  of  the  laboring  classes,  and  the  moral  and 
religious  training  of  the  young — concern  Christians  of  every  name, 
and  demand  their  united  and  concerted  action  if  the  Church  is  to 
lead  effectively  in  the  conquest  of  the  world  for  Christ." 

"It  is  our  conviction  that  there  should  be  a  closer  union  of  the 
forces  and  a  more  effective  use  of  the  resources  of  the  Christian 
Churches  in  the  different  cities  and  towns,  and  when  feasible,  in 
other  communities  and  fields,  with  a  view  to  an  increase  of  power 
and  of  results  in  all  Christian  work." 

"We  doubt  not  that  all  will  agree  that  the  different  Christian 
communions,  largely  one  in  spirit  and  devoted  to  one  Lord,  should 
l)y  united  effort  make  visible  to  the  world  their  catholic  unity,  that 
the  world  may  know  *Him  whom  the  Father  hath  sent,'  and  that  at 
length  His  prayer  for  the  oneness  of  His  people  may  be  more  fully 
answered." 

3.  Basis:  "It  is  understood  that  its  basis  would  not  be  one 
of  creedal  statement  or  governmental  form,  but  of  cooperative  work 
and  effort." 


REPORT     OF     THE     EXECUTIVE     COMMITTEE  47 

4.  Powers  :  "It  is  also  understood  that  the  organization  shall 
have  power  only  to  advise  the  constituent  bodies  represented." 

The  answers  received  to  the  Letter  authorized  the  National 
Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  to  make  arrange- 
ments preliminary  to  the  meeting  of  the  Conference,  and  its  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  was  entrusted  with  the  work.  The  membership 
of  the  committee  was  increased,  and  the  following  officers  were 
chosen :  Chairman,  Rev.  Wm.  Henry  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. ;  Vice- 
Chairman,  Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D. ;  Secretary,  Rev.  Elias 
B.  Sanford,  D.  D.,  and  Treasurer,  Mr.  Alfred  R.  Kimball. 

The  Executive  Committee  for  efficiency  of  service  appointed 
eleven  sub-committees,  consisting  of  ministers  and  laymen  residing 
in  Greater  New  York  and  vicinity,  whose  members  with  those  of 
the  appointing  committee  constitute  the  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments.   The  sub-committees  and  their  chairmen  are  as  follows : 

Programme  Committee,  Rev.  Wm.  Hayes  Ward,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 
Finance  Committee,  Mr.  Stephen  Baker. 
Hospitality  Committee,  Rev.  Ezra  Squier  Tipple,  D.  D. 
Reception  Committee,  Rev.  Kerr  Boyce  Tupper,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 
Committee  on  Meetings,  Rev.  Melatiah  E.  D wight. 
Publication  Committee,  Mr.  Wm.  T.  Demarest. 
Pulpit  Supply  Committee,  Rev.  Wallace  MacMullen,  D.  D. 
Press  Committee,  Rev.  John  Bancroft  Devins,  D.  D. 
Music  Committee,  J.  Cleveland  Cady,  LL.  D. 
Transportation  Committee,  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 
Committee   on   Reception  at  the   Waldorf-Astoria,   Dr.   S.   F. 
Hallock. 

The  Committee  note  with  pleasure  that  the  programme  which 
they  have  prepared  and  present  to  the  Conference  is  remarkable  in 
the  list  of  distinguished  speakers  who  have  accepted  invitations  to 
take  part  in  the  proceedings.  Much  labor  was  bestowed  thereupon, 
and  in  all  their  work  the  Programme  Committee  received  from  the 
representatives  of  the  churches  hearty  encouragement  and  most  cor- 
dial support.  One  of  the  principal  features  of  this  entire  move- 
ment has  been  the  general  willingness  of  all  persons  approached  to 
render  such  service  as  was  requested. 

Among  the  sub-committees  named  appears  that  on  the  Recep- 
tion to  the  Delegates  to  be  given  on  Tuesday  evening,  November 
21st,  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria.     This  reception  is  tendered  to  the 


48  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

delegates  by  the  Baptist  Social  Union,  the  Congregational  Clubs  of 
Brooklyn  and  New  York,  the  Disciples'  Union,  the  Methodist  Social 
Union,  the  Presbyterian  Union,  and  the  Eeformed  Church  Union. 
This  unique  reception,  expressive  of  the  kindliness  and  generosity 
of  the  members  of  Christian  churches  of  this  cosmopolitan  city, 
without  distinction  of  creed  or  polity,  will  be  a  fitting  consumma- 
tion of  the  sessions  of  the  Conference.  It  is  recommended  that  the 
Conference  adopt  in  reference  thereto  appropriate  resolutions. 

The  Executive  Committee  has  made  the  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Arrangements,  appointed  by  it,  corresponding  members  of 
the  Conference,  and  in  addition  has  named  a  list  of  honorary  corre- 
sponding members,  consisting  of  the  speakers  and  presiding  officers 
who  are  not  principal  delegates. 

A  Committee  on  Enrolment  was  also  appointed,  consisting  of 
the  officers  and  chairmen  of  the  sub-committees,  and  the  names  of 
the  Churches  and  delegates  will  be  presented  at  the  time  indicated 
on  the  programme. 

Believing  that  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference  should  be  put 
in  permanent  form,  the  Committee  empowered  the  Sub-Committee 
on  Publication  to  prepare  and  distribute  a  prospectus  of  an  appro- 
priate volume,  and  to  receive  subscriptions.  In  addition,  an  Edi- 
torial Committee  has  been  appointed  to  supervise  the  publication  of 
the  volume,  and  the  Eev.  E.  B.  Sanford,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the 
National  Federation,  has  been  appointed  Editor. 

Eecommendations. 
The  following  recommendations  as  to  the  work  of  the  Executive 
Committee  are  presented  for  adoption : 

1.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  Executive  Committee  was 
authorized  by  the  Churches  represented  to  make  the  preliminary 
arrangements  for  the  Conference,  and  in  view  of  the  responsibility 
of  the  Committee  for  the  full  performance  of  its  duties,  it  is  re- 
spectfully requested  that  the  Committee,  with  its  officers  and  sub- 
committees, be  continued  in  the  management  of  the  business  en- 
trusted to  them,  the  programme  included,  throughout  the  sessions 
of  the  Conference  and  thereafter,  until  the  completion  of  their 
business. 

2.  It  is  also  recommended  that  the  reports  of  the  sub-com- 
mittees, in  such  detail  as  may  be  necessary,  be  printed  in  an  Appen- 
dix to  the  Volume  of  Proceedings. 


REPORT     OF     THE     EXECUTIVE     COMMITTEE  49 

In  connection  with  the  work  of  the  Conference,  we  make  the 
following  additional  recommendations: 

1.  That  there  shall  be  at  least  two  committees  appointed  by  the 
Conference  for  the  consideration  of  such  business  as  may  come  be- 
fore the  body,  viz.,  a  Committee  on  Business,  and  a  Committee  on 
Correspondence;  the  Committee  on  Business  to  be  composed  of 
forty  persons,  and  that  on  Correspondence  of  ten  persons. 

2.  That  all  resolutions  and  communications  of  any  and  every 
character  presented  to  the  Conference  by  members  or  addressed  to 
its  officers,  shall  be  considered  before  action  is  taken  thereon  by 
the  Committee  on  Business,  and  shall  be  reported  by  said  committee 
to  the  Conference. 

3.  That  any  plans  having  in  view  the  cooperation  or  federa- 
tion of  the  Churches  represented  in  the  Conference  shall  be  referred 
to  the  Business  Committee. 

4.  That  the  Committee  on  Correspondence  shall  prepare  a  let- 
ter to  the  Churches  represented  in  the  Conference,  presenting  in  an 
appropriate  manner  the  results  of  the  deliberations. 

5.  That  six  secretaries  shall  be  appointed,  whose  duty  it  shall 
be  to  keep  the  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference,  file  and 
preserve  papers,  and  perform  such  other  duties  as  may  be  assigned 
to  them, 

6.  That  the  customary  rules  of  order  for  legislative  bodies  shall 
be  the  rules  of  order  of  the  Conference. 

In  closing  this  report,  the  Committee  desire  to  emphasize  the 
fact  that  the  source  of  the  movement  toward  Federation,  which  has 
resulted  in  the  assembling  of  this  Conference,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
growing  fraternal  feeling  between  the  dijBEerent  Christian  Churches 
of  the  country,  and  in  the  widespread  desire  for  concerted  action  in 
Christian  work  with  a  view  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  nation 
and  of  the  world.  There  can  be  no  question  that  the  Churches  rep- 
resented here  are  in  substantial  unity  upon  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  the  Christian  religion,  and  also  upon  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  administrative  policy  as  to  the  work  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  both  at  home  and  abroad.  To  this  unity  the  Committee  have 
given  expression  in  the  programme.  Its  strongest  manifestation, 
however,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Conference  itself.     The  Conference 


50  CHURCa    FEDERATION 

is  unique  in  character  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  in  so  far  as  prac- 
ticable its  members  have  been  officially  appointed  by  denomina- 
tional governing  or  advisory  bodies.  This  is  a  Conference  com- 
posed of  denominational  delegates,  acting  for  and  responsible  to 
the  appointing  denominational  bodies,  and  expressing  the  desire  of 
the  several  denominations  for  closer  relations  of  fellowship  and 
work.  The  Committee,  therefore,  cherishes  the  hope  that  whatever 
is  done  by  the  Conference  will  result  in  bringing  the  Churches  yet 
nearer  in  ties  of  fraternity,  and  make  yet  more  clear  their  unity  in 
and  loyalty  to  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  Universal,  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord  and  Saviour. 

From  across  the  seas  as  well  as  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  come  to  us  as  we  meet  me=;sages  invoking  upon  us  the  Divine 
guidance  at  every  step.  We  have  the  assurance  of  the  sympathy 
and  prayers  of  God's  people  throughout  the  world.  May  we  our- 
selves seek  earnestly  the  blessing  of  God,  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy 
Ghost,  upon  all  our  deliberations,  and  the  special  presence  of  the 
spirit  of  Him  who,  the  night  before  His  atoning  death,  prayed. 
saying,  "Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which 
shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word ;  that  they  all  may  be  one ; 
as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one 
in  us,  that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me." 

In  behalf  of  the  Executive  Committee, 

William  Henry  Roberts,  Chairman. 

The  Rev.  Cyrus  D.  Foss,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,  said:  "I  feel  very  sure  that  we 
all  listened  with  intense  interest  and  with  great  delight  to  the  ex- 
ceedingly perspicuous  account  of  the  history  of  this  movement  and 
of  the  principles  underlying  it,  and  I  take  great  pleasure  in  moving 
that  this  report,  with  its  several  recommendations,  be  adopted  by 
this  Conference." 

The  motion  was  unanimously  carried. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  William  Hayes  Ward,  D.  D.,  it  was  voted 
that  a  committee  of  seven  be  appointed  by  the  chair  to  nominate 
the  committees  recommended  by  the  report. 

The  Rev.  Asher  Anderson,  D.  D.,  moved  that  the  Rev.  William 
H.  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  be  made  Permanent  Chairman  of  the 
Conference.       The    motion    was    adopted    by    unanimous    vote. 

The  Committee  on  Enrolment,  appointed  by  the  Committee  of 
Arrangements,  through  its  secretary,  the  Rev.  E.  B.  Sanford,  D.  D., 


APPOINTMENT     OF     SECRETARIES  51 

assisted  by  the  Rev.  William  B.  Noble,  D.  D.,  presented  the  list  of 
delegates  so  far  as  completed. 

The  chairman  announced  the  names  of  the  Committee  on  Nomi- 
nations : 

The  Rev.  J.  B.  Calvert,  D.  D.,  Baptist,  New  York. 

The  Rev.  Charles  F.  Rice,  D.  D.,  Methodist  Episcopal,  Boston, 
Mass. 

The  Rev.  Frank  W.  Hodgdon,  Congregational,  Des  Moines, 
Iowa. 

The  Rev.  John  J.  Tigert,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Methodist  Episcopal, 
South,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Mr.  Thomas  W.  Synnott,  Preebyterian,  Wenonah,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  Charles  S.  Albert,  D.  D.,  Lutheran,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  M.  L.  Jennings,  D.  D.,  Methodist  Protestant,  Pitts- 
burg, Pa. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  William  H.  Roberts,  D.  D.,  the  following 
were  elected  Secretaries  of  the  Conference: 

The  Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D.,  Methodist  Episcopal, 
New  York. 

The  Rev.  Asher  Anderson,  D.  D.,  Congregational,  Boston, 
Mass. 

The  Rev.  Albert  G.  Lawson,  D.  D.,  Baptist,  Newark,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  William  B.  Noble,  D.  D.,  Presbyterian,  Los  An- 
geles, Cal. 

The  Rev.  Martyn  Summerbell,  D.  D.,  Christian,  Lakemont, 
N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  James  M.  Hubbert,  D.  D.,  Cumberiand  Presbyterian, 
Marshall,  Mo. 

It  was  also  voted  that  the  Rev.  E.  B.  Sanford,  D.  D.,  be  ap- 
pointed Secretary  for  Correspondence  of  the  Conference. 

The  chairman.  Dr.  Gladden,  presented  and,  by  common  consent, 
read  a  memorial  concerning  the  massacres  of  Jews  in  Russia.  (See 
page  57.) 

On  motion,  in  harmony  with  the  rules  of  the  Conference,  it  was 
referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  Hayes  Ward,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Federation,  Comity  and  Unity  of  the  National 
Council  of  the  Congregational  Churches  of  the  United  States, 
Editor  of  "The  Independent,"  New  York,  presented  a  paper  upon 


52  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

"The  General  Movement  of  the  Cliristian  Churches  Toward  Closer 
Fellowship."     (See  page  147.) 

A  paper  upon  "Preparator}'^  Work  in  Recent  Years  in  Advancing 
the  Movement  in  the  United  States"  was  read  by  the  Rev.  E.  B. 
Sanford,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  Executive  Committee,  General 
Secretary  of  the  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian 
Workers.     (See  page  154.) 

An  address  upon  the  "Open  Door  Before  the  Christian 
Churches"  was  made  by  the  Right  Rev.  Wm.  Neilson  McVickar, 
S.  T.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  Rhode 
Island.     (See  page  159.) 

A  discussion  followed,  consisting  of  ten-minute  addresses  by  the 
Rev.  0.  W.  Powers,  D.  D.,  President  of  the  American  Christian 
Convention,  Columbus,  Ohio  (see  page  163) ;  the  Rev.  Wm.  H. 
Black,  D.  D.,  President  of  Missouri  Valley  College,  former  Mod- 
erator of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church,  Marshall,  Mo.  (see  page  165),  and  the  Rev.  John  F.  Car- 
son, D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church,  Brooklyn, 
N".  Y.     (See  page  167.) 

A  message  of  fraternal  greeting  from  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Ripon 
was  received  and  read  by  the  Right  Rev.  Wm.  Neilson  McVickar,  of 
Providence,  R.  I.,  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Correspond- 
ence. To  this  committee  also  was  referred  the  following  resolution, 
received  from  the  Alliance  of  the  Reformed  Churches  of  the  Pres- 
byterian System  through  its  President,  the  Rev.  J.  Oswald  Dykes, 
D.  D.,  of  Cambridge  University,  England: 

Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Commission  of  the  Alliance  of  Re- 
formed Churches  throughout  the  world  holding  the  Pr^  bsrterian  system 
hereby  expresses  its  hearty  sympathy  with  the  object  of  the  forthcoming 
Conference  and  prays  that  the  blessing  of  the  King  and  Head  of  the 
Church  may  rest  upon  this  great  assemblage  of  Christian  brethren. 

The  chairman  of  the  session.  Dr.  Washington  Gladden,  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  Permanent  Chairman,  made  a  brief  address  upon 
the  possibilities  involved  in  the  Conference  in  respect  to  justice  and 
varied  service.    He  said: 

"Brethren,  I  am  sure  that  it  is  a  good  thing  for  Christian  men 
of  all  names  to  come  together  as  we  have  come  together  to-day,  if 
we  did  nothing  more  than  to  sing  and  pray  together.  We  can  sing 
together,  we  can  pray  together;  there  is  very  little  sectarianism  in 
our  singing  or  our  praying.     I  am  sure  that  we  have  been  able  to 


CARE    OF    POOR    BY    THE    CHURCHES  53 

do  this,  showing  that  there  are  some  things  that  we  can  do  together. 
A  pretty  large  programme  has  been  outlined  for  us  here;  whether 
we  can  agree  upon  all  these  things  or  not,  I  do  not  know.  I  hope 
we  shall  be  wise  enough  to  select  the  things  on  which  we  can  agree 
and  to  unite  our  hearts  and  our  efforts  in  doing  these  things. 

"There  is  one  thing  of  which  I  have  thought  which  has  not  been 
distinctly  mentioned  here,  and  which  I  believe  is  quite  within  the 
power  of  these  united  Churches,  these  federated  Churches.  I  believe 
that  the  poor  of  the  great  cities  can  be  taken  care  of  by  the  churches 
of  the  cities  as  they  are  being  taken  care  of  to-day  in  the  city  of 
Buffalo.  One  hundred  and  twenty-four  of  the  churches  of  Buffalo 
are  united  to-day  in  taking  care  of  the  outside  poor;  the  outside 
poor  relief  of  the  city  of  Buffalo  is  administered  through  the 
churches  of  that  city  to-day.  Each  church  has  a  district  assigned 
to  it  and  visits  that  district  and  cares  for  the  poor  within  that 
district,  and  that  certainly  is  a  very  beautiful  work  and  a  very  im- 
portant work ;  and  it  seems  to  me  a  great  calamity  that  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  in  this  country  has  relegated  that  business  of  caring 
for  the  poor  so  largely  to  the  municipal  and  political  authorities. 
It  is  work  that  cannot  be  done  by  a  State  official.  It  wants  for  its 
proper  administration  a  great  deal  more  of  wisdom  and  a  great  deal 
more  of  love  than  we  can  expect  a  public  official  to  show  in  such 
work.  It  ought  to  be  done  for  the  Church's  sake,  for  the  sake  of 
the  poor  themselves,  by  the  churches ;  and  it  would  be  a  very  light 
burden  if  the  churches  of  any  city  will  cooperate  to  take  care  cf 
this  work  of  outside  poor  relief. 

"Then  there  is  one  other  thing  that  I  think  we  may  hope  for. 
We  may  not  only  sing  and  pray  together,  we  may  not  only  work 
together  for  important  ends  upon  which  we  can  agree,  but  we  can 
now  and  then  say  things  together  that  will  have  their  impression 
and  effect  upon  the  world.  When  eighteen  or  nineteen  millions  of 
Christians  through  their  representatives  send  forth  their  voices  in 
an  earnest  plea  in  favor  of  justice  and  humanity,  the  world  will  hear 
it,  and  I  trust  that  we  shall  give  utterance  to-day  to  a  voice  that  will 
be  heard  across  the  sea.  When  the  nineteen  millions  of  this 
country  plead  with  the  Christians  on  the  other  side  of  the  water  for 
justice  and  humanity  to  the  oppressed,  that  voice  will  be  heard ;  and 
I  trust,  brethren,  that  we  shall  find  in  this  way  not  only  that  we  can 
worship  together  and  work  together,  but  that  we  can  now  and  then 
say  something  in  behalf  of  righteousness  and  justice  that  the  world 
is  sure  to  hear." 


84  CHVRCH    FEDERATION 

The  Rev.  Wallace  MacMullen,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Madipon 
Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Pulpit  Suppl)^  made  an  informal  statement  concerning  the 
assignments  for  the  Sabbath  of  the  Conference. 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Kev.  John  B.  Calvert. 
D.  D.  (Baptist),  Editor  of  "The  Examiner,"  New  York. 


THURSDAY  AFTERNOON,  NOVEMBER  SIXTEENTH. 

The  Conference  was  called  to  order  by  the  Permanent  Chairman 
at  2 :30  p.  m. 

The  Rev.  J.  H.  Garrison,  LL.  D.,  Editor  of  "The  Christian 
Evangelist"  and  former  President  of  the  Missionary  Convention  of 
the  Disciples,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  was  introduced  and  took  the  chair. 

The  hymn,  "All  Hail  the  Power  of  Jesus'  Name,"  was  sung. 

The  Scripture  selection,  Isaiah  35,  was  read  by  the  Rev.  M.  L. 
Jennings,  D.  D.,  Editor  of  "The  Methodist  Protestant  Recorder," 
Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  L.  Y.  Graham,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of 
Olivet  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Committee  to  Nominate  Committees,  through  its  chair- 
man, the  Rev.  John  B.  Calvert,  D.  D.,  presented  the  following 
report : 

Nominations  for  the  Business  Committee : 

Baptist  churches.  Rev.  L.  C.  Barnes,  Rev.  S.  H.  Greene,  Rev. 
H.  L.  Morehouse. 

Free  Baptist,  Rev.  R.  D.  Lord. 

Seventh  Day  Baptist,  Rev.  E.  T.  Loofboro. 

Christians,  Rev.  0.  W.  Powers. 

Congregational,  Rev.  Washington  Gladden,  Rev.  William  Hayeg 
Ward,  Hon.  S.  B.  Capen. 

Disciples,  Rev.  Hill  M.  Bell,  Rev.  J.  H.  Garrison. 

Evangelical  Association,  Bishop  Thomas  Bowman. 

German  Evangelical  Synod,  Rev.  John  Baltzer. 

Friends,  Mr.  Robert  L.  Kelley. 

Lutheran,  Rev.  J.  B.  Remensnyder. 

Methodist  Episcopal,  Bishop  E.  G.  Andrews,  Rev.  F.  M.  North, 
Rev.  C.  W.  Smith. 


BUSINESS     COMMITTEE  65 

Methodist  Episcopal,  South,  Bishop  E.  K.  Hendrii,  Bishop  A. 
W.  Wilson,  Rev.  E.  G.  Waterhouse. 

African  M.  E.  Church,  Bishop  W.  J.  Gaines. 

African  M.  E.  Zion  Church,  Bishop  A.  Walters. 

Primitive  Methodist,  Rev.  W.  H.  Yarrow. 

Methodist  Protestant,  Rev.  F.  T.  Tagg. 

Moravian,  Bishop  J.  M.  Levering. 

Presb}i;erian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  Rct.  W. 
H.  Roberts,  Rev.  C.  L.  Thompson,  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Synnott. 

Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev.  J.  M,  Hubbert. 

United  Presbyterian,  Rev.  J.  C.  Scouller. 

Reformed  Presbyterian,  Rev.  J.  D.  Steele. 

Protestant  Episcopal,  Bishop  0.  W.  Whitaker,  Mr.  G.  W. 
Pepper. 

Reformed  Episcopal,  Bishop  W.  T.  Sabine. 

Reformed  Church  in  America,  Rev.  M.  H.  Hutton. 

Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States,  Rev.  J.  H.  Prugh. 

United  Evangelical  Church,  Bisliop  Rudolph  Dube. 

United  Brethren  in  Christ,  Rev.  J.  S.  Mills. 

Welsh  Presbyterian,  Mr.  William  A.  Rees. 

Nominations  for  the  Committee  on  Correspondence : 

Rev.  W.  H.  P.  Faunce,  Baptist. 

Rev.  Frederick  D.  Power,  Disciples. 

Rev.  Amory  H.  Bradford,  Congregational. 

Rev.  Geo.  Elliott,  Methodist  Episcopal. 

Rev.  John  J.  Tigert,  Methodist  Episcopal,  South. 

Rev.  Jas.  D.  Moffat,  Presbyterian. 

Rev.  D.  S.  Stephens,  Methodist  Protestant. 

Rev.  M.  H.  Hutton,  Reformed  Church  of  America. 

Rev.  Jas.  E.  Clarke,  Cumberland  Presbyterian, 

Rev.  G.  C.  Clement,  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion. 

On  motion  the  report  of  the  committee  was  adopted. 

A  telegram  of  greeting  was  received  from  the  convention  of  the 
Sunday  Schools  of  Kings  County,  N.  Y.,  and  was,  on  motion,  re- 
ferred to  the  Committee  on  Correspondence. 

The  Permanent  Chairman  presented  for  information  a  plan  of 
federation  in  use  among  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Churches. 
It  was  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

After  brief  introductory  remarks  by  the  chairman,  Dr.  Gam- 


5C  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

son  (see  page  1T3),  the  following  addresses  upon  the  goir.Tal  theme, 
"A  United  Church  and  Eeligious  Education,"  were  gi\en: 

On  "Eeligious  Education  in  the  Home,"  by  the  Rev.  George 
W.  Richards,  D,  D.,  Professor  of  Church  History  in  the  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States,  Lan- 
caster, Pa.  (See  page  175.) 

On  "Religious  Education  and  the  Sunday  School,"  by  the  Hon. 
John  Wanamaker,  former  Postmaster  General  of  the  United 
States,  and  Superintendent  of  the  Bethany  Presbyterian  Church 
Sunday  School,  Philadelphia,  Pa.     (See  page  181.) 

The  h}Tnn,  "Love  Divine,  All  Love  Excelling,"  was  sung. 

The  discussion  was  continued  by  the  following  addresses : 

On  "Week-day  Religious  Education,"  by  the  Rev.  George  U. 
Wenner,  D.  D.,  New  York,  President  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey.     (See  page  188.) 

On  "Religious  Education  in  the  College,"  by  the  Rev.  Henry  C. 
King,  D.  D.  (Congregational),  President  of  Oberlin  College,  Ober- 
lin,  Ohio.     (See  page  197.) 

On  "The  Theological  Seminary  and  Modern  Life,"  by  the  Rev. 
George  Hodges,  D,  D.,  D.  C.  L.,  Dean  of  the  Episcopal  Theological 
School,  Cambridge,  Mass.     (See  page  205.) 

On  "Religious  Education  by  the  Press,"  by  the  Rev.  James  M. 
Buckley,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal),  Editor  of  "The 
Christian  Advocate,"  New  York.     (See  page  213.) 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  E.  P.  Famhara, 
D.  D.,  Superintendent  of  the  Brooklyn  Baptist  Church  Extension 
Society,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


THURSDAY   EVENING,    NOVEMBER    SIXTEENTH. 

The  formal  exercises  of  the  evening  were  preceded  by  a  brief 
musical  service. 

At  8  o'clock  the  Rev.  James  D.  Moffat,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Presi- 
dent of  Washington  and  Jefferson  College,  Washington,  Pa.,  Mod- 
erator of;  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  was  introduced  as  the  chairman  of  the 
evening. 

The  hymn,  "My  Country,  'Tis  of  Thee,"  was  sung. 


REGARDING   PERSECUTION    OF   JEWS    IN  RUSSIA  57 

The  Nineteenth  Psahn  was  read  by  the  Rev.  William  V.  Kelley, 
I).  D.,  Editor  of  "The  Methodist  Review,"  New  York. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Charles  L.  Moench,  Bishop 
of  the  jVIoravian  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Upon  the  general  theme,  "A  United  Church  and  the  Social 
Order,"  addresses  were  given  as  follows: 

On  "Labor  and  Capital,"  in  the  absence  of  the  Hon.  John  M. 
Harlan,  LL.  D.,  Associate  Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  Washington,  D.  C,  by  the  Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.  D., 
Pastor  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  Washington, 
D.  C.     (See  page  225.) 

On  "Citizenship,"  by  the  Rev.  Wm.  J.  Tucker,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
President  of  Dartmouth  College,  Hanover,  N.  H.     (See  page  230.) 

On  "Family  Life,"  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  W.  C.  Doane,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  Albany,  N.  Y.  (See 
page  234.) 

On  "The  Ideal  Society,"  by  the  Rev.  Henry  van  Dyke,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  Professor  in  Princeton  University,  former  Moderator  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  (See  page  242.) 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  Howard  Duffield, 
D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York. 


FRIDAY   MORNING,   NOVEMBER   SEVENTEENTH. 

The  Rev.  Edward  G.  Andrews,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  New  York,  presided. 

The  h}Tnn,  "Glorious  Things  of  Thee  are  Spoken,"  was  sung. 
Professor  George  A.  Barton,  Ph.  D.,  Society  of  Friends,  Bryn 
Mawr  College,  Bryn  Mawr,  Pa.,  read  the  Scriptures  (Mark  9  :38-4:0; 
Psalm  133;  Ephesians  4:4-16). 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  A.  Walters,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of 
the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Chairman  of 
the  Business  Committee,  on  behalf  of  the  Committee,  recom- 
mended for  adoption  the  resolutions  prepared  hy  Dr.  Washington 
Gladden  concerning  the  persecution  of  Jews  in  Russia.  On  motion 
the  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted : 

The  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation  of  the  United  States 
of  America,   assembled   in   the   City    of   New    York,    and   representing 


58  CHURCH    FEDERATION' 

eighteen  millions  of  communicants  in  the  Evangelical  Christian 
Churches  of  America,  sends  greeting  to  the  Christian  rulers  and  the 
Christian  ministers  and  the  Christian  people  of  Russia,  beseeching 
them,  in  the  name  of  our  I^rd  Jesus  Christ,  to  do  what  they  can, 
without  delay,  to  put  an  end  to  the  dreadful  cruelties  which  are  now 
being  inflicted  on  the  Jewish  people  in  many  parts  of  the  Russian 
empire. 

That  those  who  bear  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  should  practice  such 
cruelties  or  tolerate  them,  brings  pain  to  the  heart  and  shame  to 
the  face  of  every  true  Christian  in  all  the  world.  And  what  grief  must 
it  cause  to  the  Blessed  Christ  Himself,  who  pronounced  His  blessing 
on  the  merciful,  who  bade  us  love  our  enemies  and  bless  them  that 
curse  us,  and  who  gave  us  that  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan  who 
succored  and  befriended  a  suffering  Jew.  Our  hearts  go  out  to  the 
Russian  people  in  this  day  of  their  trouble  and  calamity.  We  are 
praying  that  peace  and  welfare  may  soon  be  restored  to  you ;  but  our 
sympathy  is  chilled  and  our  prayers  falter  on  our  lips  when  we  read 
of  this  terrible  carnage.  The  people  of  Russia  must  not,  in  this  their 
time  of  need,  make  it  hard  for  their  Christian  brethren  in  all  the  world 
to  think  kindly  of  them. 

We  speak  not  as  the  representatives  of  any  military  or  political 
power.  Our  churches  have  no  connection  with  our  government.  We 
speak  only  as  the  followers  and  disciples  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  It 
is  the  love  and  honor  that  we  bear  our  common  Lord  that  makes  us 
speak.  It  is  the  truth  that  we  have  learned  from  Him  that  we  are 
trying  to  utter.  We  speak  not  as  Americans  to  Russians,  but  as 
Christian  men  to  Christian  men ;  and  we  implore  you.  brethren,  by 
the  mercies  of  Christ,  that  you  will  at  once,  with  one  accord,  rise  up 
and  speak  the  word  which  shall  restrain  these  atrocities,  and  heal  the 
reproach  which  they  are  bringing  on  the  Christian  name. 

The  Rev.  J.  M.  Hubbert,  D.  D.,  in  behalf  of  the  Committee 
on  Enrolment,  presented  a  supplementary  report,  which  was  ac- 
cepted. 

A  resolution  upon  the  'T^ix porta ti on  of  Intoxicating  Liquors  to 
Undeveloped  Races"  was  presented  to  the  Conference  and  referred 
to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  minutes  of  the  sessions  of  Wednesday  evening  and  Thurs- 
day morning  were  read  by  Dr.  Asher  Anderson,  one  of  the  secre- 
taries, and  approved. 

Upon  the  general  theme,  "A  United  Church  and  Home  and 
Foreign  Missions,"  addresses  were  made  by  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Mills, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  United  Brethren  Church,  Annville, 
Pa.  (see  page  251)  ;  the  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Niccolls,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
Pastor  of  the  Second  Presbvterian  Church,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  former 
Moderator  of  the   General   Assembly    (see  page   257)  ;   the   Rev. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    CONFERENCE  59 

Henry  L.  Morehouse,  D.  D.,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Bap- 
tist Home  Missionary  Society,  New  York  (see  page  266) 

The  hymn,  "Hail  to  the  Lord's  Anointed,"  was  sung. 

The  theme  was  continued  in  the  addresses  of  the  Kev.  Charles 
H.  Fowler,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  New  York  (in  the  unavoidable  absence  of  the  Rev.  Henry 
W.  Warren,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Denver,  Col.)  (see  page  273)  ;  of  the  Et.  Rev.  J.  M.  Lever- 
ing, Bishop  of  the  Moravian  Church,  Bethlehem,  Pa.  (see  page 
278),  and  of  the  Rev.  C.  B.  Galloway,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Jackson,  Miss,  (see  page 
283). 

The  general  subject  was  further  discussed  in  addresses  by  the 
Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.  D.,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  For- 
eign Missions  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.  (see  page  288)  ;  the  Rev.  John  P.  Peters,  D.  D.,  Rector  of  St. 
Michael's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  New  York  (see  page  290), 
and  the  Rev.  William  W.  Clark,  D.  D.,  Field  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Domestic  Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America 
(see  page  292). 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  W.  T.  Sabine, 
J).  J).,  Bishop  of  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  New  York. 


FRIDAY  AFTERNOON,  NOVEMBER  SEVENTEENTH. 

At  2.15  o'clock  the  Rev.  David  H.  Bauslin,  D.  D.,  President  of 
the  General  Synod  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  Professor  in  the 
Theological  Department,  Wittenberg  College,  Springfield,  Ohio, 
was  introduced  and  took  the  chair. 

The  hymn,  "I  Love  Thy  Kingdom,  Lord,"  was  sung. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Roberts,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Welsh  Presby- 
terian Church,  New  York,  read  Matthew  28:19-20. 

The  presiding  officer  offered  prayer. 

The  Permanent  Chairman,  acting  for  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  Hayes 
Ward,  presented  a  form  of  constitution,  to  be  proposed  to  the 
Conference.  On  motion  it  was  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  Business  Committee  not  being  ready  at  the  time  assigned 
by  the  programme  to  present  a  plan  of  federation,  their  report 
was  placed  on  the  docket  for  Saturday  morning  at  the  time  indi- 


60  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Gated  for  discussion;  and  the  Committee  was  authorized,  if  prac- 
ticable, to  print  and  distribute  the  same,  that  it  might  be  in  the 
possession  of  the  Conference  on  Saturday  morning. 

A  resolution  asking  protection  against  the  liquor  traflfic,  in 
behalf  of  the  Indians,  was  presented  to  the  Conference  by  Samuel 
Dickie,  LL.  D.,  President  of  Albion  College,  Albion,  Mich.,  and 
referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

Upon  request  of  the  Et.  Eev.  0.  W.  Whitaker  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  the  name  of  the  Eev.  H.  H.  Oberly,  D.  D.,  was 
substituted  for  his  own  name  as  member  of  the  Business  Com- 
mittee, and  the  name  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Stotsenberg  for  that  of  Mr.  G. 
W.  Pepper,  absent. 

The  theme  of  the  afternoon  was  "Present  Practical  Workings 
of  Federation.'"'    Addresses  were  made  as  follows : 

"In  the  Smaller  Cities  and  Eural  Districts,"  by  the  Eev.  Ed- 
ward Tallmadge  Eoot  (Congregational),  Field  Secretary  of  the 
Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  of  the  State  of 
Ehode  Island,  Providence,  E.  I.     (See  page  307.) 

"In  the  States,"  by  the  Eev.  Alfred  Williams  Anthony,  D.  D. 
(Free  Baptist),  Professor  in  Cobb  Divinity  School,  Lewiston,  Me., 
and  Secretary  of  the  Interdenominational  Commission  of  Maine 
(see  page  313) ;  the  Eev.  J.  Winthrop  Hegeman,  Ph.  D.  (Protes- 
tant Episcopal),  Field  Secretary  of  the  Federation  of  Churches  and 
Christian  Workers  of  the  State  of  New  York,  Ballston  Spa,  N.  Y. 
(See  page  323.) 

The  hymn,  '^hen  I  Survey  the  Wondrous  Cross,"  was  sung. 

The  general  subject  was  continued  in  the  following  addresses : 

"Ten  Years'  Federative  Work  in  New  York  City,"  by  the  Eev. 
Walter  Laidlaw,  Ph.  D.  (Eeformed  Church  in  America),  Executive 
Secretary  of  the  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Organiza- 
tions in  New  York  City.     (See  page  299.) 

"In  Interdenominational  Work,"  by  the  Eev.  William  I.  Haven, 
D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal),  Secretary  of  the  American  Bible  So- 
ciety, New  York.     (See  page  333.) 

"In  the  Foreign  Field" :  "The  Philippines,"  by  the  Eev.  James  B. 
Eodgers,  D.  D.,  Senior  Missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  Philippines.     (See  page  342.) 

"Japan,"  by  the  Eev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.  D.,  Corresponding 
Secretary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,  Boston,  Mass.     (See  page  355.) 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    CONFERENCE  61 

'•India/'  by  the  Eev.  J.  M.  Thoburn,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  ]\Iissioiiary 
Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Bombay,  India.  (This 
paper  was  read  in  his  enforced  absence.)    (See  page  339.) 

"China  and  Korea,"  by  the  Eev.  J.  C.  Garritt,  D.  D.,  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.    (See  page  350.) 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Eev.  William  E.  Eich- 
ards,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York. 


FEIDAY    EVENING,  NOVEMBEE  SEVENTEENTH. 

Preceding  the  opening  of  the  session  a  musical  service  was 
rendered  by  a  men's  chorus. 

The  Permanent  Chairman,  Dr.  Eoberts,  offered  an  invocation. 

The  hymn,  "Onward,  Christian  Soldiers,"  was  sung. 

Dr.  Eoberts  introduced  as  presiding  officer  the  Honorable 
Henry  Kirke  Porter,  Member  of  Congress,  former  President  of 
the  Baptist  Missionary  Convention,  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  who  took  the 
chair.     (See  page  369.) 

The  hymn,  "Come,  Thou  Almighty  King,"  was  sung  and  the 
Eev.  E.  K.  Bell,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Lutheran  Church,  Bal- 
timore, Md.,  read  the  Scripture  selection  (Colossians  1). 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Eev.  H.  W.  Barnes,  D.  D.,  Corre- 
fcponding  Secretary  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Convention  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  Binghamton,  N.  Y. 

Eesolutions  relating  to  "Disguised  Forms  of  Gambling," 
"Wrongs  in  the  Congo  Free  State,"  "The  Bible  in  the  Public 
School"  and  "The  Christian  Sabbath"  were  presented  to  the  Con- 
ference and  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  theme  for  the  evening  was  "The  United  Church  and  the 
Fellowship  of  Faith." 

On  account  of  the  absence  of  the  Eev.  Francis  L.  Patton,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  the  address  upon  "Our  Faith  in  a  Personal  God"  was  not 
presented. 

"Our  Faith  in  Christ"  was  the  subject  of  an  address  by  the 
Eev.  Wm.  H.  P.  Faimce,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  (Baptist),  President  of 
Brown  University,  Providence,  E.  I.     (See  page  370.) 

The  Eev.  H.  L.  Willett,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  in  Disciples  Divinity 
House,  University  of  Chicago,  111.,  made  an  address  upon  "Our 
Faith  in  the  Holy  Scriptures."    (See  page  377.) 


62  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

"Our  Faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit"  was  the  theme  of  an  address 
prepared  by  the  Eev.  Wm.  F.  McDowell,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Chicago,  111.  In  the  absence  of 
Bishop  McDowell,  who  was  called  to  Chicago  to  conduct  the 
funeral  services  of  Bishop  Stephen  M.  Merrill,  his  paper  was  read 
by  the  Eev.  Charles  L.  Goodell,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Calvary 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  New  York.    (See  page  384.) 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  Charles  E.  Jeffer- 
son, D.  D.  (Congregational),  Pastor  of  Broadway  Tabernacle,  New 
York. 


SATURDAY  MORNING,  NOVEMBER  EIGHTEENTH. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Ozi  William  Whitaker,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  presided. 

The  hymn,  "0  God,  Our  Help  in  Ages  Past,"  was  sung. 

The  Rev.  0.  P.  Gifford,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Delaware  Avenue 
Baptist  Church,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  read  the  Ninety-first  Psalm. 
Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  James  I.  Good,  D.  D.,  Dean  of  the 
Ursinus  School  of  Theology  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 
States. 

The  minutes  of  the  five  preceding  sessions  were  read  and  ap- 
proved. 

A  resolution  upon  week-day  instruction  in  religion  was  pre- 
sented by  the  Rev.  George  U.  Wenner,  D.  D.,  and  referred  by  the 
Conference  to  the  Business  Committee. 

In  behalf  of  the  Committee  on  Enrolment  a  supplementary 
report  was  presented  by  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Hubbert,  D.  D. 

The  Permanent  Chairman,  in  introducing  a  general  resolution 
on  the  plan  of  federation  in  behalf  of  the  Business  Committee, 
spoke  as  follows : 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  beg  leave  to  present  for  the  Business  Com- 
mittee the  following  resolution  in  connection  with  the  subject  as- 
signed to  the  docket  this  morning,  the  Plan  of  Federation.  The 
Business  Committee  is  at  present  in  session  and  reports  through  the 
Permanent  Chairman,  sir,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  they  are  busily 
engaged  upon  the  work  assigned  them  by  the  Conference.  It  is  not 
desired  that  an  immediate  vote  should  be  taken  upon  this  reeolu- 


DISCUSSION    ON    FEDERATION  6S 

tion,  but  that  there  should  be  such  discussion  upon  it  as  may  be 
appropriate  thereto,  and  by  the  delegates. 

'Whereas,  In  the  providence  of  God,  the  time  appears  to  have 
come  when  it  seems  fitting  more  fully  to  emphasize  the  essential 
oneness  in  our  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Christian 
Churches  of  America,  and  to  promote  between  them  the  spirit  of  fellow- 
ship, service  and  cooperation  in  all  Christian  work ;  therefore, 

'Resolved,  That  this  Conference  authorizes  the  Business  Committee 
to  prepare  a  plan  of  federation  which  shall  recognize  the  catholic 
and  essential  unity  of  the  Churches  represented  in  the  Conference,  and 
provide  for  the  cooperation  of  the  denominations  in  general  lines  of 
moral  and  religious  work,  report  to  be  made  as  soon  as  possible.' 

"I  move,  sir,  the  adoption  of  this  resolution,  and  ask  for  a  second. 
(Motion  seconded.)  It  is  moved  and  seconded,  sir,  and  is  now 
before  the  house." 

The  Rev.  Asher  Anderson,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  National 
Council  of  Congregational  Churches  in  the  United  States,  Boston, 
Mass.,  spoke  as  follows: 

"I  have  been  asked  just  now  to  say  a  word  concerning  Federation. 
I  am  reminded  at  once  of  an  incident  in  the  classroom  of  the  theo- 
logical seminary  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in  America,  when 
a  student  asked  the  professor  in  theology,  'What  do  you  think, 
Professor,  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  churches  uniting?' 
And  the  professor  very  gravely  answered,  'That  will  be  just  the 
thing,  if  they  come  over  to  us.'  It  is  certainly  evident  that  no  one 
expects  any  yielding  so  far  as  particularisms  are  concerned.  If  we 
judge  the  mind  of  this  Conference,  however,  it  is  expected  that 
something  will  be  discovered  in  the  way  of  a  basis  upon  which  all 
particularisms  may  be  placed  with  a  view,  first  of  all,  of  illustrating 
unity  in  Protestantism. 

"I  have  always  believed  that  Protestantism  is  in  certain  respects 
united.  If  there  is  any  division,  if  there  is  any  exclusiveness,  it  is 
usually  local.  Only  when  a  pastor  finds  himself  hedged  in  by  his 
environment  and  compelled  to  service  which  over  and  over  again 
he  does  not  himself  respect,  there  we  find  that  which  separates  one 
denomination  from  another.  No  large-minded  person  will  ask  me 
to  yield  my  convictions,  whether  those  convictions  pertain  to  the 
essential  truths  of  God's  Word  or  to  the  mode  by  which  I  am  to 
■carry  out  the  work  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth ;  but  the  other 


64  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

and  myself  will  believe  when  we  are  located  in  a  community  that 
the  sensible  thing  to  do  is  to  join  our  forces  for  the  ])urpose  of 
accomplishing  the  most  good  in  the  lives  and  homes  of  those  who, 
though  they  do  not  understand  our  particularisms,  are  pleased  to 
find  us  joined  together  in  the  brotherhood  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"I  believe  Federation  was  abundantly  illustrated  in  the  disciple- 
ship  of  our  Lord.  We  find  men  of  different  temperaments,  but 
we  invariably  find  them  looking  toward  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
so,  centred  in  that  Light,  they  found  only  one  purpose,  gave  them- 
selves to  only  one  service ;  and  because  of  their  consecration  to  that 
one  Name  in  that  service,  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  was  some- 
thing remarkable  in  the  history  of  the  early  Christian  Churches. 
We  have  gone  in  our  denominationalism  too  far  away  from  the 
disciple  mind,  and  certainly  far  away  from  the  spirit  of  Him  who 
prayed  that  they  might  all  be  one.  I  do  not  believe  it  is  possible 
that  a  number  of  men  may  study  the  Word  of  God  to  find  one 
polity  for  all.  I  do  believe  that  when  we  study  that  Word  we  shall 
find  that  it  is  given  nnto  us  to  do  the  work  of  the  Gospel  as  best 
suits  our  spirit  and  our  purpose ;  that  is,  so  far  as  the  organization 
is  concerned;  and  there  is  not  one  but  will  sit  in  judgment  upon 
any  disposition  to  separate  and  to  exclude,  and  they  who  name 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  will,  as  was  so  beautifully  said 
3^esterday  upon  this  platform,  join  hands  with  any  other  under  that 
same  name  if  only  the  soul  of  humankind  may  be  reached.  I  am 
willing  to  clasp  hands  with  any  of  whatever  name,  if  only  something 
may  be  done  in  the  communit}'^  for  the  elimination  of  evil  and  the 
redemption  of  men, 

"]!^ow,  look  at  it  in  any  light  we  please,  we  must  confess  that,  if 
there  is  unbelief  in  the  world,  it  is  to  some  extent  because  of  the 
exclusiveness  of  the  denominations ;  there  is  no  question  about  that. 
Jesus  Christ  hinted  at  that  very  thing  when  He  said  'that  they 
may  believe.'  Believe  what? — in  Him  as  sent  by  the  Father.  The 
world's  faith  is  to  be  expected  from  the  unity  of  the  Churches.  I 
do  not  expect  a  man  outside  to  accept  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ 
when  believers  are  not  illustrating  the  doctrine  of  brotherhood.  To 
speak  against  each  other,  to  work  against  each  other,  to  compete 
and  to  strive,  especially  in  communities  in  the  West,  yet  enough 
in  our  own  well  organized  communities  in  the  East,  will  signify 
departure  from  the  faith  even  on  the  part  of  those  who  in  their 
childhood  were  trained  to  think  that  the  Bible  was  worth  believing, 
Jesus  Christ  worth  knowing,  and  hope  worth  gaining. 


REV.  FRANK   MASON  NORTH,  D.D.  REV.  L.  CALL  BARNES,  D.D. 


REV.  ASHER  ANDERSON,  D.D.  REV.  MARTYN    SUMMERBELL,  D.D. 


DISCUSSION    ON    FEDERATION  65 

"As  I  was  passing  through  a  town  in  a  Western  State  I  was  vory 
much  amused  as  I  left  the  train  for  a  moment.     This  was  in  the 
southern  part  of  Oregon.     Four  churches,  and  I  do  not  believe  there 
were  more  than  four  hundred  people  in  the  community!     The 
majority  of  the  population  doubtless  had  no  special  affiliation  with 
any  of  the  churches  in  that  place.     Four  churches,  well  described 
by  Dr.  Puddefoot  as  'shoe  boxes  for  meeting  houses,  with  tooth- 
picks for  steeples,'  pleading,  begging,  striving,  working,  and  doubt- 
less praying  as  well.     What  does  it  mean?     It  means  simply  the 
repetition  of  that  which  the  old  man  asked  at  the  table  in  the  way 
of  grace  when  he  offered  his  prayer  in  this  way:     'God  bless  me 
and  my  wife,  my  son  John  and  his  wife ;  us  four,  no  more.    Amen.' 
That  is  too  much  the  spirit  of  particularism.     The  spirit  of  to-day 
illustrated  in  this  Conference  will  mean,  love  your  particularism, 
be  loyal  to  your  denomination,  stand,  if  you  please,  for  your  theol- 
ogy and  your  traditions  and  your  history  and  your  customs,  but,  in 
the  blazing  light  of  the  cross  of  the  crucified  Lord,  let  us  look  to 
one  thing  and  to  one  Person,  and  be  under  one  Spirit.     While  I 
care  not  to  be  at  all  theological,  still  I  am  heretic  enough  to  say, 
even  against  the  interpretations  of  the  past,  that  when  Jesus  Christ 
declared,  'Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature,  baptizing  them  in  the  JN'ame,  He  meant  'into  the  Name,' 
so  that  the  children  of  men  shall  be  children  of  the  Father  God, 
so  that  the  children  of  men  redeemed  by  Jesus  Christ  shall  be 
brothers  under  Him  one  to  another,  so  that  the  children  of  men 
shall  be  under  the  guiding  power  and  sanctifying  agency  of  the 
Holy  Spirit;  that  is,  baptize  them  into  the  Name,  that  they  believe 
in  God,  in  Jesus  Christ  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit.     It  is  more  than  a 
baptism  in  the  faith  merely.     When  we  believe  in  God  under  that 
baptism  and  say,  'Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,'  it  will  mean 
that  you  are  my  brother,  or,  I  am  not  a  child  of  that  Father  and 
have  not  received  the  true  baptism.     How  can  a  man  say  that  he 
loves  God  whom  he  hath  not  seen,  and  not  love  his  brother  whom 
he  hath  seen?     That  is  not  Christianity;  that  is  not  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  Christ.     So  I  go  back  again  to  just  what  I  said  before. 
Find  my  brother  wherever  I  will :  in  his  canonicals,  in  the  audience 
worshipping  Him  who  is  only  a  Eabbi,  in  the  plain,  simple  garb  of 
the  Quaker,  find  him  even  if  he  be  not  identified  with  anything 
that  is  named  ecclesiastical-wise — I  will  grasp  hands  with  him  and 
plead  with  him,  Let  us  save  the  man  that  needs  us.     Who  is  my 
neighbor?     The  man  that  needs  me.     If  I  have  gained  a  blessing 


66  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

from  the  Lord  of  Life,  it  ought  to  be  my  life  to  help  my  neighbor 
live.  Let  us  get  together,  then,  for  the  sake  of  that  larger  life 
which  will  be  illustrated  in  Churches  of  Jesus  Christ  coming  to- 
gether if  only  there  shall  be  one  Church,  one  Lord,  and  men  saved 
to  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

The  Eev.  Henry  C.  McCook,  D.  D.,  Sc.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  said: 

"Mr,  Chairman,  I  fancy  that  this  paper  is  presented  for  discus- 
sion to  give  an  opportunity  for  those  who  are  on  the  floor  and 
have  the  privilege  of  speech  to  express  their  own  opinions  without 
being  placed  upon  the  programme.  I  would  not  have  thought  of 
speaking,  had  not  Dr.  Roberts,  as  he  passed  out  of  the  house,  inti- 
mated to  me  this  fact  and  asked  me  to  say  a  few  words  to  fill  an 
interval  pending  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  a  plan  of  fed- 
eration. 

"Surely  we  all  must  recognize  the  truth  asserted  in  this  resolu- 
tion, namely,  that  there  is  an  essential  unity  in  the  evangelical 
Churches.  We  have  already  federated,  have  we  not?  If  we  look 
at  the  facts  of  the  Church  as  they  have  been  manifesting  them- 
selves during  the  last  fifty,  indeed  during  the  last  hundred,  years, 
we  will  see  that  there  is  an  essential  and  increasing  union  or  feder- 
ation which,  although  informal,  has  expressed  itself  in  many  ways. 
Shall  we  take  two  or  three  examples  ? — and  many  will  occur  to  all 
of  you, 

"I  go  back  a  few  years,  sir,  to  a  scene  in  your  diocese  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  in  the  great  church  of  that  city  (Holy  Trinity)  which 
has  been  made  illustrious  for  all  time  by  the  ministry  of  the  late 
Bishop  Brooks.  It  was  just  after  his  death.  The  Bishop,  the  local 
clergy  and  members  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  held  a 
meeting  to  express  the  common  feeling  of  Christians  on  the  death 
of  this  illustrious  man.  I  had  the  honor  to  be  one  of  those  chosen 
to  pronounce  the  eulog}'  upon  Phillips  Brooks,  and  preceding  me 
was  one  now  a  member  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  firstborn  in 
heaven,  the  late  Dr.  George  Dana  Boardman.  You  were  there, 
sir,  in  your  canonicals,  and  the  then  rector  of  that  church,  Dr. 
McVickar,  who  has  spoken,  as  a  Bishop  now  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  from  this  platform.  We  stood  there,  a  simple  Pres- 
byterian Bishop  and  a  pastor  of  a  Baptist  church,  mingHng  our 
fraternal  sorrow  with  Episcopalian  Bishops  and  rectors,  and  com- 
municants :  and  our  common  theme  was — and  there  was  an  echo  in 
every  heart  to  every  word  spoken — that  great  soul  born  of  God  into 


DISCUSSION    ON    FEDERATION  67 

God's  Catholic  Church.  A  Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church !  Yes ; 
but  could  any  man  doubt  under  such  circumstances  that  he  was  a 
member  and  a  leader  of  the  one  Holy  Catholic  Church? — and  that 
we  were  recognizing  in  that  illustrious  congregation  and  before  that 
splendid  assembly,  the  fact  expressed  in  this  resolution,  namely,  that 
there  is  an  essential  and  catholic  federation  already  accomplished 
in  the  midst  of  the  churches  of  this  country  ? 

"Let  me  take  another  example.  It  was  my  pleasure  this  spring 
to  attend  one  of  the  greatest  ecumenical  conferences  that  I  think  I 
ever  had  the  privilege  to  be  with,  and  the  honor  to  address.  It  was 
the  Toronto  International  Sunday  School  Convention,  now  an  in- 
corporated association.  Why,  sir,  we  all  know  that  years  ago  the 
working  men  and  women  of  the  various  churches  of  our  country 
had  federated  in  the  most  important  work — I  perhaps  do  not  err  in 
saying  that — in  the  most  important  work  to  which  the  Church  can 
address  itself — saving  the  Church  at  the  fountainhead  of  life; 
saving  souls  by  rescuing  humanity  in  childhood.  There,  gathered 
as  delegates  from  every  State  and  almost  from  every  county  of  the 
United  States,  and  from  every  province  of  the  Dominion,  besides 
other  representative  and  visiting  persons,  were  men  and  women.  I 
do  not  know  how  many  thousands  of  them,  filling  two  great  halls, 
and  with  an  enthusiasm  in  worship,  and  with  an  expression  of 
results  in  work,  which  must  have  amazed  any  who  had  not  followed 
closely  during  the  last  few  years  the  work  of  these  persons.  They 
represented  every  Protestant  denomination — I  believe  every  evan- 
gelical Protestant  Church  within  the  limits  to  which  I  have  re- 
ferred— and  during  their  week  of  convocation  there  was  not  a  ripple 
of  discord.  All  were  in  perfect  harmony ;  and  we  were  dealing  with 
matters  of  the  utmost  consequence,  matters  which  involved  a  large 
and  varied  work — work  for  the  rescue  of  the  young;  work  for  the 
upbuilding  of  Christianity ;  for  the  establishment  of  Sunday  Schools 
in  Japan ;  for  the  establishment  of  Sunday  Schools  in  Italy ;  for  the 
organized  instruction  in  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  faith  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  nearly  twelve  million  youths  and  children !  We  had 
found — yes,  more  than  seventy  years  before — our  modiLS  vivendi 
and  no  discord  within  our  ranks !  Surely  one  who  looked  upon  that 
assembly,  representing  all  denominations  of  Christendom  on  our 
continent,  and  the  very  flower  of  the  manhood  and  womanhood  of 
the  Christian  Church,  must  have  been  compelled  to  say,  We  are 
one  !  This  is  a  visible  representation  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  ; 
we  have  federated!     These  men  and  women — and  the  lavmen  in 


68  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

advance  of  the  clergymen  or  laymen  and  clergymen  side  by  side — had 
already  discovered  the  fact  of  our  essential  union,  and  the  way  by 
which  that  union  could  be  expressed  to  the  world  in  the  activities  of 
Christian  service. 

"May  I  give  one  other  example?  I  have  the  honor  to  be  the 
president  of  a  society  known  as  the  Presbyterian  Historical  Society, 
whose  headquarters  are  in  the  city  to  which  we  both,  Mr.  Chairman, 
belong,  Philadelphia.  That  society  is  represented  on  this  floor  by 
all  but  one  of  its  constituent  members.  It  represents  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  the  United  States  of  America,  known  popularly 
as  the  Church  North,  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  the  United 
Presbyterians,  the  Reformed — Dutch  Eeformed,  as  we  used  to  call 
them — and  German  Reformed  churches;  it  represents  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Scotch  Covenanters,  the  Associate  Reformed,  the  Cal- 
vinistic  Methodists,  and  all  the  various  branches  of  the  family  of 
the  Reformed  known  as  Pan-Presbyterians.  I  have  been  for  a 
number  of  years  associated  with  these  brethren  in  the  closest  rela- 
tions. We  have  been  doing  our  work  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
To  be  sure,  it  is  of  a  literary  sort,  a  work  of  agitation,  a  work  of 
historic  presentation  and  historic  rescue,  our  duty  being  to  preserve 
'the  memory  of  the  just,' — ^but  in  all  these  years  I  have  never 
known  a  single  discord  among  us!  We  found  our  federation  long 
ago,  and  we  are  expressing  it  in  ways  that  are  still  satisfactory  to  all. 

"Now,  I  have  risen  to  speak — promjDted  by  our  Permanent 
Chairman — because  I  feel  that  the  words  of  these  resolutions  exactly 
express  the  spirit  of  the  Church,  certainly  in  large  measure;  and 
we  can,  if  we  vrill,  on  this  occasion  find  some  formal  way  by  which 
in  larger  manner  and  in  a  more  effective  service  we  can  express  that 
Federation  to  the  world.  For  my  part,  while  I  have  a  measurable 
love  for  my  own  denomination,  I  have  always  called  myself  Chris- 
tian before  Presbyterian ;  and  I  have  always  held  myself  as  a  Chris- 
tian minister, before  I  counted  myself  as  a  Presbyterian  pastor; and 
the  name  Christian  to  me  is  first  and  dearest.  To-day  we  all  have 
something  of  that  feeling  in  our  hearts,  and  there  is  a  method  of 
formulating  it.  Shall  we  not  find  it?  If  we  will  look  for  it,  it 
will  come  to  us.  With  all  my  heart  I  second  this  resolution,  and 
trust  that  it  will  be  adopted.  And  not  only  adopted  as  a  matter 
in  thesi,  but  that  we  will  strike  the  practical  point  of  a  larger  union, 
with  liberty,  of  course,  for  fuller  service  in  all  that  men  who  pro- 
fess and  call  themselves  Christian  can  undertake  for  the  uplifting  of 
humanity  and  the  glorifying  of  God,  as  God  only  can  be  glorified, 


DISCUSSION    ON    FEDERATION  69 

by  making  this  world  a  better  place  for  men  to  live  in,  and  for  the 
Christ  to  glean  souls  therein  for  His  Kingdom." 

The  Kev.  Cyrus  D.  Foss,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  said :  "I  want  to  know  exactly 
where  we  are  and  what  we  are  trying  to  do.  If  we  are  talking 
about  this  resolution  and  referring  it  back  to  the  committee,  it 
seems  to  me  that  we  are  very  late  in  doing  it.  The  trouble  has 
been  with  us  that  we  all  know  what  we  want ;  everybody  has  heard 
that  we  want  Federation ;  that  is  what  we  came  here  for.  There  is 
no  doubt  in  anybody's  mind  as  to  what  this  audience  wants;  the 
question  is,  how  to  get  it,  and  that  is  what  we  ought,  it  seems  to 
me,  to  discuss  now.  I  move  that  we  have  three-minute  speeches 
on  this  subject  of  how  to  federate ;  that  is  what  we  want.  We  all 
believe  in  Federation;  there  is  no  use  in  telling  us  that  we  have 
a  certain  sort  of  unity.  We  all  believe  that  we  cannot  get  organic 
union;  now,  what  we  want  to  get  is  Federation,  and  we  want  to 
know  how  to  do  it." 

Dr.  Eoberts  said :  "Mr.  Chairman :  Let  us  understand,  brethren, 
where  we  are.  The  Business  Committee,  in  order  to  give  to  the 
delegates  an  opportunity  to  express  themselves,  sent  in  the  resolu- 
tion Avhich  is  before  the  house.  This  is  presented  for  discussion,  to 
draw  out  the  opinions  of  the  delegates,  not  only  as  to  the  general 
situation,  but  also  as  to  details.  Here  is  your  opportunity  to  say 
what  you  desire  to  say,  whatever  it  be,  on  the  subject  of  Federa- 
tion, and  the  Business  Committee  felt  that  there  should  be  the 
fullest  and  freest  discussion  prior  to  the  addresses  which  have  been 
assigned  for  the  morning ;  and  not  only  this  morning,  but  at  other 
sessions,  if  it  is  necessary.  There  will  be  no  effort  to  repress,  in 
any  manner  whatsoever,  so  long  as  the  Business  Committee  has 
this  special  subject  under  discussion,  the  expression  of  individual 
opinion." 

On  motion,  the  speakers  were  limited  to  three  minutes,  with 
the  exception  of  Bishop  Foss,  who  had  already  addressed  the 
chair,  and  of  Bishop  Whitaker,  who  by  general  consent  obtained 
the  privilege  of  the  floor  to  make  an  important  communication  in 
behalf  of  the  representatives  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 
Bishop  Foss  spoke  as  follows : 

"I  rise  to  support  the  motion  before  the  house,  for  a  reason 
additional  to  those  which  have  been  presented,  but  which  is  sug- 
gested by  the  report  itself,  namely,  that  the  resolutions  provide  for 


70  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

an  arrangement  for  action  to  be  proposed  to  us  by  the  Business 
Committee. 

"I  must  confess  ray  very  high  respect  for  that  witty  disciple  who 
first  suggested  how  much  we  owe  to  the  fact  that  the  Fifth  Book 
of  the  New  Testament  did  not  have  to  be  entitled  The  Resolutions 
of  the  Apostles. 

"When  I  was  a  young  pastor  in  this  city,  I  had  the  honor  to  be 
a  member  of  the  Conference  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  which  met 
here  in  1873,  when  delegates  were  assembled  from  all  parts  of  the 
Protestant  world.  Eminent  men  from  abroad  and  at  home  gathered 
on  that  platform,  and  we  seemed  swept  up  toward  the  gates  of 
heaven.  I  have  never  had  successive  days  of  such  spiritual  uplift. 
That  Alliance  rallied  largely  around  a  certain  simple  form  of  belief. 
It  proposed  excellent  statements  for  those  who  could  agree  with 
them — and  that  was  a  very  large  part  of  the  Protestant  world — as 
to  what  is  fundamental  in  Christian  belief.  But  the  Alliance  has 
accomplished  very  much  less,  in  this  country  certainly,  than  was 
anticipated  at  the  time  of  that  great  meeting.  And  why  ?  I  think 
largely  because  it  did  not  provide  for  and  enter  into  great  activi- 
ties. The  individual  disciple  must  work  out  his  own  salvation;  it 
is  by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing  that  he  gets  on;  and  so  I 
think  it  is  with  the  Christian  Church,  and  with  any  branch  of  it. 
The  strenuous  President  of  our  country,  in  his  address  at  Valley 
Forge,  when  he  had  spoken  about  Washington  and  Lincoln  as  the 
two  greatest  Americans,  and  had  given  a  little  sketch  of  their  sub- 
lime careers,  ended  by  saying — a  great  thing  for  a  layman  to  say, 
and  for  a  man  in  his  position — that  the  greatest  thing  about  them 
both  was  that  they  were  *doers  of  the  word,  and  not  hearers  only.' 
Now  we  are  Christian  believers,  but  if  this  Federation  Conference 
goes  down  into  history  as  a  great  and  important  and  epoch-making 
convention  it  must  be  because  it  provides  for  the  'doing  of  the 
word,'  and  not  simply  for  right  belief. 

"I  observe  also  that  the  provision  made  in  this  report  calls  for 
not  only  moral  but  also  for  religious  activity.  That  can  take  us, 
I  suppose,  all  the  way  from  the  most  moderate  and  unevangclical 
humanitarian  work  to  the  highest  concentrated  evangelistic  spir- 
itual activity  for  the  immediate  conversion  of  men,  and  all  the 
way  from  that  to  this  lies  a  field  which,  occupied  by  the  Churches 
in  Federation,  will  compel  the  outlying  world  to  believe  that  really 
the  prayer  of  the  Saviour  is  beginning  to  be  answered.  We  have 
just  now  in  Philadelphia  what  the  country  is  aware  of,  and  the 


DISCUSSION    ON    FEDERATION  71 

world,  to  some  extent,  an  illustration  of  the  power  of  concerted 
action  for  the  rebuke  of  organized  political  iniquity.  We  have  had 
a  specimen  of  what  Christian  men,  and  men  not  professing  to  be 
Christians,  who  yet  have  consciences,  can,  with  aroused  conscience, 
bring  about  in  less  than  one  year,  and  a  large  part  of  it  in  less 
than  one  week,  for  the  concentration  of  conscientious  purpose  for 
civic  betterment;  and  it  was  largely  promoted  by  the  prayers  of 
Christian  ministers  and  laymen  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity 
on  a  certain  day,  when  perhaps  two  hundred  of  us,  despairing  of 
men,  united  to  call  upon  God.  The  newspapers  spoke  lightly  of  it 
and  thought  we  had  better  be  engaged  in  work  than  in  prayer  just 
then ;  but  in  a  few  weeks  they  spoke  better  of  it. 

"I  wish  to  emphasize  this  one  thought,  that  if  we  avoid  what 
seemed  to  me  the  practical  error  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  and 
instead  of  rall3ring  round  those  fundamental  doctrines  by  formal 
statement  of  them,  in  which  I  suppose  nineteen-twentieth s  of  all  in 
this  Convention  and  those  they  represent  would  agree ;  if  instead  of 
that  we  leave  those  matters  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and  do  the 
worh  which  God  has  called  us  to  do,  this  Federation  Convention  will 
have  successors,  and  will  command  respect  and  arrest  attention; 
and  in  some  near  to-morrow  people  will  say  not  only,  'How  those 
Christians  love  one  another!' — that  is  a  good  thing  to  say — but 
'How  those  Christians  are  doers  of  the  word  !'  " 

The  Eev.  E.  B.  Kephart,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  United 
Brethren  Church.  Annville,  Pa.,  said:  "I  wish  to  give  my  endorse- 
ment of  this  resolution  that  is  now  pending.  The  subject  of  Feder- 
ation is  pretty  generally  understood,  and  it  is  pretty  generally  en- 
dorsed among  Christian  people  of  the  various  denominations,  and  I 
am  quite  confident  of  this,  that  if  this  Convention  adjourns  without 
formulating  something  tangible  on  the  subject  of  Federation,  it  will 
not  only  not  escape  criticism,  but  it  will  receive  criticism  justly; 
and  I  am  sure  of  this,  that  what  is  couched  in  that  resolution  is 
such  that  that  committee  will  handle  it  judiciously  and  bring  some- 
thing before  this  body  that  is  tangible  and  that  will  be  of  incalcula- 
ble value  among  the  various  denominations  as  it  is  carried  out  into 
the  different  sections  of  the  country." 

The  Eev.  Adna  B.  Leonard,  D.  D.,  LL.  D..  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary of  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
New  York,  said :  "Mr.  Chairman,  these  denominations  represented 
in  this  Conference  have  been  waiting  for  several  years  for  the 
movement  proposed  in  the  report  of  this  committee.     I  am  re- 


72  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

minded  this  morning  of  the  great  Ecumenical  Missionary  Confer- 
ence that  met  in  this  hall  in  the  last  days  of  April,  1900.  For  ten 
days  we  sat  here  in  conference  on  questions  relating  to  foreign 
missions,  and  during  those  ten  days  there  was  not  one  single  note 
of  discord  among  all  the  representatives  of  all  the  great  missionary 
societies  of  the  world  assembled  here;  and  I  dare  to  say  in  this 
presence  that  on  the  foreign  mission  field  our  missionaries  have 
been  ripe  for  Federation  and  cooperation  for  a  goodly  number  of 
years,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  world  to-day  there  are  movements 
going  forward  looking  toward  not  only  Federation,  but  union  of 
various  denominations  in  Christian  work,  so  that  the  Church  in 
this  country  is  ripe  for  this  movement.  The  reason  why  we  are 
here  to-day  is  because  the  great  Christian  denominations  want 
closer  association  in  Christian  work.  There  are  a  great  many 
things  on  our  hands  in  this  country  that  very  greatly  need  atten- 
tion, and  need  the  united  attention  of  the  great  Protestant  denomi- 
nations. There  is  no  one  question  upon  which  we  need  unity  of 
action  more  than  in  the  great  temperance  reform  that  is  moving 
forward  in  this  country.  The  Churches  of  America  can  abolish  the 
saloons  of  America.  I  dare  to  say  that  the  saloons  of  this  country 
are  here  because  the  Churches  have  not  been  united  in  their  effort 
to  cast  them  out  of  our  civilization.  Federation  and  cooperation 
will  do  much  in  this  direction.  There  are  great  questions  that 
have  reference  to  political  life  and  business  life,  as  we  very  well 
know  from  what  is  now  going  on  in  this  city,  great  questions  that 
need  the  united  effort  and  activity  of  the  Christian  Churches,  and 
the  Federation  that  is  proposed  will  enable  the  Christian  Church  to 
act  solidly  on  these  questions.  I  believe  we  are  ready  for  the  pro- 
posed plan  of  Federation." 

The  chairman.  Bishop  Whitaker,  having  desired  to  address  the 
Conference  on  this  subject,  wa?  requested  to  do  so  at  this  time,  and 
spoke  as  follows : 

'In  the  list  of  delegates  to  this  Conference  there  is  a  section 
containing  the  names  of  nine  members  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  three  Bishops,  three  presbyters  and  three  laymen,  desig- 
nated as  a  committee  to  represent  the  Commission  on  Christian 
Unity.  That  committee,  at  a  meeting  held  day  before  yesterday, 
adopted  the  following  resolution,  to  which  I  beg  your  attention  and 
your  right  understanding : 

Resolved,  That  in  any  voting  in  the  Inter-Church  Conference  the 
meinbers   of   the   committee   will    vote   individually   in   the   expression 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    CONFERENCE  73 

of  their  judgment,  and  not  as  a  committee.  Second,  that  the  chair- 
man be  requested  at  a  favorable  opportunity  to  state  to  the  Confer- 
ence the  position  of  this  committee,  especially  in  that  it  has  no  power 
to  commit  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  to  any  specific  action. 

"I  beg  that  this  will  not  be  understood  as  indicating  any  indiffer- 
ence, much  less  any  opposition,  to  the  great  purpose  for  which  this 
Conference  was  called,  either  on  the  part  of  the  members  of  this 
committee  or  of  the  Commission  or  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church.  It  is  simply  a  statement  of  our  position  in  this  Confer- 
ence. As  a  committee  we  have  no  power,  we  have  received  no 
authority,  we  have  been  given  no  instructions  as  to  what  stand  we 
should  take  on  the  question  of  Federation.  That  the  position  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  may  be  understood  in  this  regard,  I  beg  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  following  facts :  In  1874  a  Commission  on 
Ecclesiastical  Eolations  was  appointed  by  the  General  Convention, 
with  a  view  to  bringing  the  Churches  into  a  closer  union  and  fellow- 
ship, but  having,  at  the  time  it  was  appointed,  a  special  reference 
to  those  whose  regimen  is  like  that  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church.  The  Commission  on  Christian  Unity  was  appointed  by 
the  General  Convention  of  1886  under  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  suggested  by  the  report  of  the  Commission  on  Ecclesi- 
astical Eolations: 

Resolved.  The  House  of  Bishops  concurring,  that  a  commission  con- 
sisting of  five  Bishops,  five  presbyters  and  five  lay  deputies  be 
appointed,  who  shall  at  their  discretion  communicate  to  the  organized 
Christian  bodies  of  our  country  the  declarations  set  forth  by  the 
Bishops  on  the  8th  day  of  October,  and  shall  hold  themselves  ready  to 
enter  into  brotherly  conference  with  all  or  any  Christian  bodies  seek- 
ing the  restoration  of  the  organic  unity  of  the  Church,  and  that  the 
Commission  report  to  the  convention  of  1889. 

"In  1889  a  very  encouraging  report  was  made  regarding  the 
spirit  in  which  the  communication  from  the  Episcopal  Church  had 
been  received.  In  1893  the  report  was  less  encouraging,  but  the 
Commission  was  reappointed  with  instructions  to  continue  its 
efforts. 

"At  the  convention  sitting  in  Boston  in  1904  the  following  reso- 
lution was  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  Commission  on  Christian  Unity  be  instructed 
to  seek  the  cooperation  of  the  other  Christian  bodies  of  this  land  in  the 
observance  of  the  Lord's  day,  in  the  preservation  of  the  sanctity  of 
marriage,  in  the  religious  education  of  children,  and  in  other  like  mat- 
ters of  mutual  interest,  so  as  to  bring  about  closer  relations  and  better 
understanding  between  us  than  now  exists. 


74  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

"Now,  it  is  manifest  that  in  these  successive  steps  we  trace  a 
progress,  a  deepening  conviction  that  a  closer  relationship  ought 
to  be  established  between  the  Churches  in  this  land,  and  you  see 
how  from  the  movement  at  first  to  reach  out  to  those  Churches 
whose  regimen  was  analogous  to  our  own,  it  has  gone  on  until  now 
the  last  instructions  given  to  the  Commission  on  Christian  Unity 
were  to  make  efforts  to  secure  cooperation  with  the  other  Churches 
of  the  land  in  every  kind  of  Christian  effort  that  makes  for  the 
welfare  of  mankind,  and,  therefore,  the  welfare  of  the  Church  and 
the  glory  of  God.  In  this  light  it  is  clear  that  this  resolution  which 
we  adopted,  not  to  vote  as  a  committee  but  as  individuals,  does  not 
militate  at  all  against  the  spirit  of  this  Conference,  nor  the  great 
purpose  for  which  it  was  called  together.  The  committee  represents 
simply  the  Commission  on  Christian  Unity;  it  was  appointed  by 
correspondence  and  not  by  a  personal  gathering  together  of  the 
members  of  the  Commission,  because  that  was  impossible.  We 
have  no  power;  we  can  act  simply  as  individuals;  but  I  have  read 
in  your  hearing  the  action  of  the  General  Convention  of  1904, 
which  sufficiently  indicates  the  increasing  desire  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  for  cooperation.  The  term  federation'  was 
not  used;  it  was  not  brought  before  the  convention;  we  have  no 
power  as  a  committee  to  act  upon  it;  as  individuals  we  have  our 
opinion,  Ave  manifest  our  desire,  we  express  our  sympathy;  and  I 
am  free  to  say,  for  one,  that  I  do  desire  with  all  my  heart  coopera- 
tion with  all  those  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  by 
whatever  name  they  may  be  called  ;  and  if  it  is  possible  to  formulate 
a  scheme  of  Federation  which  shall  be  workable,  I  will  give  it  my 
hearty  sympathy  and  my  cordial  support." 

The  Rev.  James  C.  Morris,  D.  D.,  President  of  Central  College, 
Fayette,  Mo.  (Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South),  then  said: 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  believe  that  there  is  no  necessity  whatever  or 
fitness  in  urging  essential  unity  among  Christians  as  a  thing  to 
be  undertaken  especially.  It  exists  by  multiplied  interests.  We 
are  born  of  one  Spirit,  and  in  so  far  we  are  united,  in  spite  of  the 
differences  in  our  position.  The  one  thing  desirable  is  that  we  em- 
phasize to  the  world  this  unity  and  give  it  efficient  expression.  I 
believe  we  are  coming  to  the  point  where  we  are  going  to  write 
Christianity  increasingly  larger  and  the  denominations  increas- 
ingly smaller.  We  are  each  of  us  laboring  to  approach  unto  the 
fulness  of  manhood  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  as  we  come  to  that  we 
necessarily  and  logically,  without  any  positive  purpose,  come  to 


PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  75 

each  other.  The  one  thing  to  do  is  to  put  before  the  world,  for 
the  sake  of  the  influence  it  may  have,  not  misconceptions,  but  the 
fact  of  our  unity.  I  believe  exceedingly — and  I  think  I  represent 
our  people  in  this — in  commending  the  action  proposed  to  be  taken 
in  the  general  terms  of  this  resolution.  I  think  that  the  Business 
Committee  may  be  trusted  to  give  a  wise  expression  to  the  method 
in  which  it  shall  be  expressed." 

At  this  point  the  Business  Committee  appeared  with  the  formal 
report  on  Plan  of  Federation,  and  the  Conference  was  clearly  ready 
to  vote  upon  the  pending  resolution. 

The  Rev.  Paul  de  Schweinitz,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the 
Executive  Board  of  the  Moravian  Church  and  Secretary  of  Mis- 
sions, Bethlehem,  Pa.,  received  permission  to  present  the  official 
action  taken  by  the  Moravian  Church,  in  view  of  this  Conference, 
as  follows: 

In  consistency  with  the  union  proposed  of  the  Moravian  Church 
and  with  the  position  taken  by  the  last  Synod  of  our  Church,  the  Ex- 
ecutive Board  recommends  that  the  Moravian  delegates  to  the  Inter- 
Church  Conference  on  Federation  declare  in  favor  of  the  creation 
of  a  standing  inter-church  organization,  with  a  view  to  rendering  the 
best  ideas  of  comity  and  cooperation  more  practically  operative,  par- 
ticularly in  the  prosecution  of  home  and  foreign  mission  work. 

The  vote  upon  the  pending  resolution  was  then  taken,  and,  there 
being  no  dissenting  voice,  it  was  directed  by  the  Conference  that 
the  record  should  declare  that  the  resolution  was  unanimously 
adopted.     Its  passage  was  greeted  with  loud  applause. 

The  report  of  the  Business  Committee  was  introduced  by  its 
chairman,  the  Rev.  Eugene  R.  Hendrix,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  as  follows : 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  very  glad  as  chairman  of  that  large  com- 
mittee which  you  appointed  some  days  ago  to  be  able  to  bring  in  a 
unanimous  report  from  the  committee.  We  discussed  it  from  many 
points  of  vision  and  differences  of  opinion,  and  have  eliminated 
what  might  have  been  dear  to  some  hearts,  to  be,  like  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  amended  on  future  occasions.  Mr.  Glad- 
stone said  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  the  most 
wonderful  and  complete  document  that  ever  came  at  one  time  from 
the  brain  of  man.  He  had  not  seen  this !  Therefore,  desiring  you 
to  know  how  unanimous  the  committee  was  in  formulating  this 
Plan  of  Federation,  I  now  request  Dr.  Lord,  secretary  of  the  com- 


7«  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

niittee  of  forty  and  also  of  the  sub-committee  of  five  that  submitted 
this  to  the  committee  of  forty,  to  present  it  to  this  body." 

On  motion  the  time  of  the  business  meeting  was  extended  to 
hear  this  report,  which  was  read  by  the  secretary  of  the  Business 
Committee,  the  Eev.  Rivington  D.  Lord,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First 
Free  Baptist  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  as  follows : 

PLAN   OF  FEDEEATION. 

To  Be  Recommended  for  Approval  hy  the  Constituent  Christian 
Bodies. 

PREAMBLE. 

Whereas,  Iu  the  providence  of  God,  the  time  has  come  when  it 
seems  fitting,  more  fully  to  manifest  the  essential  oneness  of  the 
Christian  Churches  of  America  in  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Lord  and 
Saviour,f  and  to  promote  the  spirit  of  fellowship,  service  and  coopera- 
tion among  them,  the  delegates  to  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on 
Federation  assembled  in  New  York  City,  do  hereby  recommend  the 
following  Plan  of  Federation  to  the  Christian  bodies  represented  In 
this  Conference  for  their  approval. 

PLAN    OF   FEDERATION. 

1.  The  name  of  the  body  shall  be  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America.* 

2.  fThe  following  Christian  bodies  shall  be  entitled  to  represen- 
tation in  this  Federal  Council  on  their  approval  of  the  purpose  and 
plan  of  the  organization : 

fThe  Baptist  Churches,  North. 
The  Baptist  Churches,  South. 
The  Free  Baptist  Churches. 
The  Negro  Baptist  Churches. 
The  Christian  Connection. 
The  Congregational  Churches. 
The  Disciples  of  Christ. 
The  Evangelical  Association. 
The  Evangelical  Synod. 
The  Friends. 
■     The  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  General  Synod. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 
The  Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

The  Colored  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  America. 
The  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 
The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church. 
The  Mennonite  Church. 
The  Moravian  Church. 


PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  77 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  Welsh  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  United  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Reformed  Church  in  America. 

The  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America. 

The  Reformed  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Seventh  Day  Baptist  Churches. 

The  United  Brethren  in  Christ. 

The  United  Evangelical  Church. 

3.    The  object  of  this  Federal  Council  shall  be— 

I.    To    express    the    fellowship    and    catholic    unity    of    the 

Christian   Church. 
II.    To  bring  the  Christian  bodies  of  America  into  ♦harmon- 
ious service  for  Christ  and  the  world. 
III.    To   encourage  devotional    fellowship   and   mutual   counsel 
concerning  the  spiritual  life  and  religious  activities  of 
the  Churches. 
IV.    To  secure  a  larger  combined  influence  for  the  Churches 
of  Christ  in  all  matters  affecting  the  moral  and  social 
condition  of  the  people,   so  as  to  promote   the  appli- 
cation of  the  law  of  Christ  in  every  relation  of  human 
life. 
V.    To  assist  in   the   organization   of   local  branches  of  the 
Federal    Council    to    promote    its    aims    in    their    com- 
munities. 

4.  This  Federal  Council  shall  have  no  authority  over  the  constitu- 
ent bodies  adhering  to  it;  but  its  province  shall  be  limited  to  the 
expression  of  its  counsel  and  the  recommending  of  a  course  of  action 
in  matters  of  common  interest  to  the  Churches,  local  councils  and  indi- 
vidual Christians. 

It  has  no  authority  to  draw  up  a  common  creed  or  form  of  gov- 
ernment or  of  worship,  or  in  any  way  to  limit  the  full  autonomy  of 
the  Christian  bodies  adhering  to  it. 

5.  Members  of  this  Federal  Coimcil  shall  be  appointed  as  follows: 
Each  of  the  Christian  bodies  adhering  to  this  Federal  Coimcil  shall 

be  entitled  to  four  members,  and  shall  be  further  entitled  to  one 
member  for  every  50,000  of  its  communicants  or  major  fraction 
thereof.  The  question  of  representation  of  local  councils  shall  be 
referred  to  the  several  constituent  bodies,  and  to  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Federal  Council. 

6.  Any  action  to  be  taken  by  this  Federal  Council  shall  be  by  the 
general  vote  of  its  members.  But  in  case  one-third  of  the  members 
present  and  voting  request  it,  the  vote  shall  be  by  the  bodies  repre- 
sented, the  members  of  each  body  voting  separately;  and  action  shall 


78  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

require  the  vote,  not  only  of  a  majority  of  the  members  voting,  but 
also  of  the  bodies  represented. 

7.  Other  Christian  bodies  may  be  admitted  into  membership  of 
this  Federal  Council  on  their  request  if  approved  by  a  vote  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  members  voting  at  a  session  of  this  Council,  and  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  bodies  represented,  the  representatives  of  each  body 
voting  separately. 

8.  The  Federal  Council  shall  meet  in  December,  1908,  and  there- 
after once  in  every  four  years. 

9.  The  officers  of  this  Federal  Council  shall  be  a  President,  one 
Vice-President  from  each  of  its  constituent  bodies,  a  Corresponding 
Secretary,  a  Recording  Secretary,  a  Treasurer  and  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee, who  shall  perform  the  duties  usually  assigned  to  such  officers. 

The  Corresponding  Secretary  shall  aid  in  organizing  and  assisting 
local  councils  and  shall  represent  the  Federal  Council  in  its  work, 
imder  the  direction  of  the  Executive  Committee. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  consist  of  seven  ministers  and 
seven  laymen,  together  with*  a  President,  all  ex-Presidents,  the  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  and  the  Tl-easurer.  The  Executive  Committee  shall 
have  authority  to  attend  to  all  business  of  the  Federal  Council  in 
the  intervals  of  its  meetings  and  to  fill  any  vacancies. 

All  officers  shall  be  chosen  at  the  quadrennial  meetings  of  the 
Council,  and  shall  hold  their  offices  until  their  successors  take  office. 

The  President,  Vice-Presidents,  the  Corresponding  Secretary,  the 
Recording  Secretary  and  the  Treasurer  shall  be  elected  by  the  Fed- 
eral Council  on  nomination  by  the  Executive  Committee. 

The  Executive  Committee  shall  be  elected  by  ballot  after  nomina- 
tion by  a  Nominating  Committee. 

10.  This  Plan  of  Federation  may  be  altered  or  amended  by  a  ma- 
jority vote  of  the  members,  followed  by  a  majority  vote  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  several  constituent  bodies,  each  body  voting  sepa- 
rately. 

11.  The  expenses  of  the  Federal  Council  shall  be  provided  for  by 
the  several   constituent  bodies. 

This  Plan  of  Federation  shall  become  operative  when  it  shall  have 
been  approved  by  two-thirds  of  the  above  bodies  to  which  it  shall  be 
presented. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  delegation  to  this  Conference  to  present 
this  Plan  of  Federation  to  its  National  body,  and  ask  its  consideration 
and  proper  action. 

In  case  this  Plan  of  Federation  is  approved  by  two-thirds  of  the 
proposed  constituent  bodies  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  National 
Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers,  which  has  called  this 
Conference,  is  requested  to  call  the  Federal  Council  to  meet  at  a 
fitting  place  in  December,  1908. 


*See  amendments,  pages  79,  80,  J 
•j-See  corrected  list,  pages  29,  30. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    CONFERENCE  79 

On  motion  of  the  Eev.  Wm.  Hayes  Ward,  D.  D.,  the  report  was 
ordered  printed  for  distribution  among  the  members  of  the  Con- 
ference and  its  consideration  made  the  order  of  the  day  on  Monday 
at  9.50  A.  M. 

The  two  following  communications  to  the  Conference  were  pre- 
sented by  the  Eev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D.,  Secretary : 

To  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation,  Carnegie  Hall,  New  York. 
Brethren :  The  Federation  of  Christian  Forces  of  Georgetown,  D.  C, 
embracing  a  population  of  twenty  thousand  of  Washington  inhabitants 
and  composed  of  twelve  churches  representing  seven  denominations. 
«ends  greetings  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  May  your  delibera- 
tions be  presided  over  and  controlled  by  the  King  Invisible,  and  may 
they  result  in  perfecting  a  plan  which  will  ultimately  bring  into  feder- 
ated union  all  Christian  denominations. 

Yours  for  Christian  union. 

Zed   H.  Copp, 
President  Federation  Christian  Forces,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  second  was  a  copy  of  a  resolution  unanimously  adopted 
at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Michigan  (State)  Association  of  Free 
Will  Baptists  held  at  Reading,  Michigan,  October  25-27,  1905 : 

In  the  growing  spirit  of  comity  among  the  different  divisions  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  we  discern  the  hand  of  God.  His  purpose  for  the 
unity  of  His  people  we  would  make  our  purpose  and  invoke  God's 
blessing  upon  the  approaching  meeting  of  the  National  Federation  of 
Churches  in  New  York  City.  Alice  L.  Hulce,  Secretary. 

A  resolution  in  reference  to  the  traffic  in  intoxicants  and  opium 
in  foreign  mission  fields  was  received  and  referred  to  the  Business 
Committee. 

Upon  the  general  theme,  "The  Essential  Unity  of  the  Churches," 
addresses  were  given  as  follows :  By  Joseph  W.  Mauck,  LL.  D., 
President  of  Hillsdale  College  (Free  Baptist),  Hillsdale,  Mich, 
(see  page  393) ;  by  the  Rev.  Robert  F.  Coyle,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the 
Central  Presbyterian  Church,  Denver,  Col.,  former  Moderator  of 
the  General  Assembly  (see  page  397) ;  by  the  Rev.  R.  P.  Johnston, 
D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  New  York  (see 
page  403) ;  by  the  Rev.  F.  T.  Tagg,  D.  D.,  President  of  the  General 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church,  Baltimore,  Md. 
(see  page  408) ;  by  the  Rev  S.  P.  Spreng,  D.  D.  (Evangelical  As- 
sociation), Editor  of  "The  Evangelical  Messenger,"  Cleveland. 
Ohio  (see  page  412) ;  by  the  Rev.  Josiah  Strong,  D.  D.  (Congrega- 
tional), President  of  the  American  Institute  of  Social  Service,  New 


80^  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

York  (see  page  417),  and  by  the  Eev.  Daniel  A.  Goodsell,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Brookline, 
Mass.     (See  page  432.) 

The  doxology  was  sung.  The  benediction  was  pronounced  by 
the  Kev.  Morris  AV.  Leibert,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Moravian 
Church,  New  York. 


SUNDAY  AFTERNOON,  NOVEMBER  NINETEENTH. 
Carnegie   Hall. 

The  interdenominational  gathering  in  the  interest  of  Young 
People's  Organizations  was  opened  at  3  p.  m.  by  Mr.  John  R.  Mott 
(Methodist  Episcopal),  General  Secretary  of  the  World's  Student 
Christian  Federation,  who  presided. 

Representatives  of  the  following  organizations  were  in  at- 
tendance : 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 

The  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor, 

The  Epworth  League, 

The  Baptist  Young  People's  Union, 

The  Luther  League, 

The  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew, 

The  Young  People's  Missionary  League  of  the  Reformed  Church 
in  America, 

Young  People's  Christian  Union, 

The  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip, 

The  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  and 

The  other  Young  People's  Societies  of  the  Churches  in  the  Con- 
ference. 

The  hymn,  "Come,  Thou  Almighty  King,"  was  sung. 

The  selection  from  the  Scriptures,  Philippians  2:  1-11,  was 
read  by  Mr.  Silas  McBee,  Editor  of  "The  Churchman." 

The  Lord's  Prayer  was  repeated  by  the  congregation,  standing. 

The  hymn,  "Onward,  Christian  Soldiers,"  was  sung. 

The  chairman  made  a  brief  introductory  address.  (See 
page  431.) 

Woodrow  Wilson,  LL.  D.,  Litt.  D.  (Presbyterian),  President  of 
Princeton  University,  addressed  the  audience  upon  "The  Mediation 
of  Youth  in  Christian  Progress."     (See  page  435.) 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    CONFERENCE  81 

The  hymn,  "The  Church's  One  Foundation,"  was  sung. 

An  address  upon  "The  Bases  of  Unity  Among  Young  People 
and  Steps  Toward  Its  Achievement"  was  made  by  Mr.  Robert 
E.  Speer,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions of  the  Presbyterian  Church.     (See  page  443.) 

After  the  singing  of  the  hymn,  "Crown  Him  with  Many 
Crowns,"  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Right  Rev.  David 
H.  Greer,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop-Coadjutor  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Diocese  of  New  York. 

Broadway  Tabernacle. 

An  overflow  meeting  was  held  at  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  at 
the  same  hour. 

Mr.  Von  Ogden  Vogt,  General  Secretary  of  the  United  Society 
of  Christian  Endeavor,  presided.     (See  page  453.) 

The  hymn,  "All  Hail  the  Power  of  Jesus'  Name,"  was  sung,  and 
the  congregation  united  in  repeating  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

After  a  brief  praise  service  the  chairman  introduced  General 
James  A.  Beaver,  LL.  D.,  of  Bellefonte,  Pa.,  who  spoke  upon  "The 
Possibilities  of  United  Christian  Youth."    (See  page  456.) 

The  hymn,  "The  Son  of  God  Goes  Forth  to  War,"  was  then  sung. 

Mr.  J.  Campbell  White,  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church, 
made  an  address  upon  the  theme,  "The  Evangelization  of  the  World 
the  Great  Unifying  Conception."    (See  page  463.) 

The  hymn,  "The  Morning  Light  Is  Breaking,"  was  sung. 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  Charles  R.  Sey- 
mour, D.  D.,  Associate  Pastor  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle. 


MONDAY  MORNING,  NOVEMBER  TWENTIETH. 

The  Rev.  A.  W.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  Baltimore,  Md.,  was  introduced  and  took 
the  chair  at  9.30. 

The  hymn,  "Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  Almighty,"  was  sung. 

The  Rev.  P.  E.  Grunert,  D.  D.,  of  the  Moravian  Church,  New 
Dorp,  N.  Y.,  read  Colossians  1 :  3-29. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev,  James  D.  Steele,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of 
the  First  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York. 

The  minutes  of  Saturday,  November  18,  were  read  and  approved. 


83  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  Permanent  Chairman  presented  a  communication  from  the 
Union  of  Orthodox  Jewish  Congregations  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  through  its  President,  the  Rev.  Dr.  H.  Pereira  Mendes : 

To  the  Chairman  of  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation: 

Reverend  and  Dear  Sir :  On  behalf  of  the  Union  of  Orthodox  Jewish 
Congregations  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  I  wish  to  thank  Dr. 
Washington  Gladden,  Moderator  of  the  National  Council  of  Congrega- 
tional Churches  in  the  United  States,  for  bringing  before  your  Conference 
the  subject  of  the  atrocities  committed  upon  the  Jews  in  Russia.  Most 
fervently  do  I  trust  that  your  Conference  will  exercise  all  influence  which 
God  places  in  your  power  on  behalf  of  those  who  at  night  exclaim, 
"Would  that  it  were  morning!"  and  who  in  the  morning  say,  "Oh,  that 
it  were  evening!"  through  the  terrible  fear  which  thrills  their  very  souls. 
If  every  member  of  the  Conference,  on  his  return  to  his  flock,  will 
lead  that  flock  in  a  protest  against  this  blot  upon  civilization,  this 
outrage  upon  Christianity,  it  must  do  good  when  we  transmit  the  col- 
lective protests  to  those  who  hold  high  places  in  Russia.  Truly  this  will 
help  to  strengthen  the  hearts  of  those  in  high  authority  in  Russia,  both 
the  Czar  and  officials,  to  be  strong  and  of  good  courage,  to  fear  not  and 
to  be  not  dismayed  in  any  effort  on  their  part  to  stop  the  shameful 
massacres.     I  shall  be  glad  to  take  charge  of  such  protests. 

With  renewed  acknowledgments  to  the  whole  Conference  for  its 
sympathy  in  our  present  night  of  horror,  I  am. 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

H.  Pebeiba  Mendes. 

By  common  consent  it  was  agreed  that  this  letter  should  be 
acknowledged  and  filed. 

A  resolution  asking  that  a  provisional  plan  for  federative  work, 
pending  the  final  report  to  the  Churches,  be  devised,  was  referred  to 
the  Business  Committee. 

Resolutions  on  "Commercial  and  Political  Evils"  and  "The 
Press  Association  and  Daily  Newspapers  of  America"  were  received 
and  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  order  of  the  day,  the  discussion  of  the  Plan  of  Federation, 
was  taken  up.  The  floor  was  assigned  to  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix, 
chairman  of  the  Business  Committee,  who  announced  that,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  directions  of  the  Conference,  the  plan  in  printed 
form  was  in  the  hands  of  the  delegates. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Stotsenburg,  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
moved  that  the  Plan  of  Federation  as  proposed  by  the  Business 
Committee,  be  adopted.     The  motion  was  seconded.     A  motion, 


DISCUSSION    OF    PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  83 

offered  as  a  substitute,  that  the  report  be  taken  up  seriatim,  pre- 
vailed. 

Professor  James  Quayle  Dealey,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Social 
and  Political  Science  in  Brown  University  and  President  of  the 
Rhode  Island  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers, 
Providence,  R.  I.,  moved  to  amend  the  plan  presented  by  the  Busi- 
ness Committee  in  three  particulars — the  inclusion  of  Christian 
bodies  not  named  in  the  present  list,  the  omission  of  any  statement 
which  might  be  construed  as  establishing  a  doctrinal  basis,  and  the 
non-interference  with  the  organization  of  local  councils  by  State 
Federations.  The  motion  being  seconded,  a  substitute  was  offered, 
referring  all  questions  connected  with  the  admission  of  other  Chris- 
tian bodies  to  membership  to  the  proposed  Federal  Council  of 
1908. 

Professor  Dealey  said : 

"Mr.  President,  on  behalf  of  the  Rhode  Island  Federation  and 
others  who  represent  the  policy  represented  by  them,  we  strongly 
desire  to  have  this  matter  settled  now  in  this  Convention,  and  not 
have  the  matter  postponed  for  four  years.  We  hope  that  the  sub- 
stitute amendment  offered  will  be  voted  down,  and  that  we  will 
discuss  the  real  question  which  was  before  the  Convention,  sug- 
gested by  three  amendments  made  by  the  Rhode  Island  Federation." 

The  Rev.  Samuel  J.  NiccoUs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church,  St,  Louis,  Mo.,  spoke  as  follows : 

"Mr.  Chairman :  I  believe  that  what  has  been  said  by  the  brother 
who  has  just  offered  his  amendment  is  true;  the  requirements  with 
reference  to  Federation  should  be  settled  here  and  now;  to  refer 
them  to  a  subsequent  Council,  when  that  Council  has  not  yet  been 
established,  is  simply  an  evasion  of  the  issue.  I  want  to  say,  first 
of  all,  that  while  I  do  not  object  in  the  main  to  the  proposed  plan 
or  basis  of  Federation,  I  do  find  fault  with  it  on  account  of  the 
omission  of  some  things  which  should  be  clearly  stated.  It  is 
cautiously  worded,  but  it  seems  to  me  too  colorless  in  its  doctrinal 
statements  to  express  definitely  the  common  faith  with  which  we 
expect  to  evangelize  the  world  and  subdue  it  to  Christ.  I  had  hoped 
that  there  would  have  been  referred  to  the  committee  for  its  con- 
sideration the  so-called  quadrilateral  articles  of  the  Lambeth  or 
Pan-Anglican  Conference.  There  is  much  in  them  worthy  of  at- 
tention, and  they  might,  at  least,  direct  us  in  expressing  some  things 
in  which  we  are  all  agreed.     It  is  manifest,  however,  that  any  ex- 


84  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

tended  doctrinal  statement  is  not  desirable,  even  were  it  possible; 
but  there  must  be  some  definite  centre  of  unity  or  the  plan  will 
have  no  cohesion,  I  am  sure  from  what  I  have  heard  in  this  Con- 
ference that  we  all  know  what  that  centre  is ;  it  is  none  other  than 
the  Person  of  Christ  and  His  supreme  position  as  the  Lord  and 
Saviour  of  men. 

"Bearing  on  this  point  there  is  an  instructive  incident  recorded 
in  the  Old  Testament,  one  that  marks  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  the 
chosen  people.  We  are  told  that  men  of  war  who  could  keep  rank, 
the  veterans  of  many  conflicts  and  representatives  of  the  tribes 
of  Israel,  came  to  Hebron  with  a  perfect  heart  to  make  David  king 
over  all  Israel.  The  old  record  also  says  that  the  rest  of  the  people 
were  of  one  mind  to  make  David  king.  The  results  of  that  con- 
ference were  the  cessation  of  all  tribal  rivalries  and  jealousies,  the 
healing  of  divisions,  and  the  union  of  all  under  the  power  of  a 
common  national  life.  It  marked  the  beginning  of  the  era  of  pros- 
perity in  which  the  theocracy  reached  its  midday  splendor,  and 
when  for  the  first  time  the  covenant  promise  made  to  Abraham  that 
his  seed  should  possess  the  land  from  Damascus  to  the  river  of 
Egypt  was  fulfilled.  It  was  followed  by  the  splendor  of  Solomon's 
reign,  the  king  of  peace.  If  now,  we  who  have  been  trained  to 
keep  rank  in  the  conflicts  of  the  past,  have  come  to  this  Conference 
as  our  Hebron  with  perfect  hearts  to  make  'great  David's  greater 
Son,'  King  over  all,  we  may  be  assured  that  the  time  is  not  far 
distant  when  there  will  be  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophet's  vision, 
■^the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord 
and  His  Christ,'  the  long  expected  reign  of  the  Prince  of  Peace 
will  have  come.  We  are  here  to  arrange  for  more  effective  service 
in  the  advancement  of  His  kingdom ;  but  in  this  forward  movement 
the  banner  that  is  to  be  lifted  up,  and  around  which  we  must  rally, 
must  have  no  strange  device ;  it  must  not  have  blazoned  on  it.  Tor 
the  Unity  of  Protestantism,'  or  for  'Civic  Righteousness,'  or  for 
TReform,'  or  for  'Humanity,'  but  it  must  have  written  on  it,  not 
in  letters  of  gold,  but  as  in  blood,  'For  Christ  and  His  Cross.' 

"There  is  no  other  name  in  which  we  can  succeed,  no  other 
djTiamic  by  which  we  can  secure  the  regeneration  of  society  and 
lasting  social  reform.  Let  us  not  be  diverted  from  the  high  and 
single  aim  of  our  Conference  by  any  secondary  issues,  or  through 
any  misunderstanding  of  the  purpose  of  our  coming  here.  It  has 
been  the  fate  of  all  great  movements  to  attract  men  who  were  net 
fully  in  sympathy  with  their  inspiring  spirit  and  who  were  ready 


DISCUSSION    OF    PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  85 

to  forsake  them  when  the  real  object  of  the  movement  was  made 
apparent.  The  following  of  the  mixed  multitude  has  never  been  a 
source  of  strength  to  the  Church.  Their  counsels  retard  or  lead 
backward.  For  myself,  I  want  to  follow  the  pillar  of  cloud  and 
fire  leading  the  hosts  of  God  on  to  the  promised  land,  the  only 
Guide  that  can  safely  lead  us.  Much  has  been  said  about  cooper- 
ation in  social  reforms,  in  the  promotion  of  civic  righteousness  and 
the  betterment  of  society.  I  am  sure  that  we  are  all  glad  to  unite 
in  such  movements  with  men  of  all  beliefs.  But  surely  we  do  not 
need  to  call  a  Conference  of  the  Christian  Churches  to  determine 
that  we  ought  to  do  such  a  thing.  Jew  and  Gentile,  Christian  and 
every  decent  worldling  can  combine  on  such  a  basis  as  that.  But 
we  have  come  together  as  representatives  from  evangelical  Churches 
for  a  different  purpose,  unless  we  have  been  misled;  it  is  to  de- 
clare our  essential  unity  and  to  promote  the  manifestation  of  it 
in  accord  with  the  purpose  and  prayer  of  our  Lord,  'That  they 
may  be  made  perfect  in  one  and  that  the  world  may  know  that 
Thou  has  sent  Me  and  hast  loved  them  as  Thou  hast  loved  Me.' 
It  is  then  such  a  manifestation  of  our  unity  as  will  bear  witness 
to  the  divine  mission  of  Christ;  that  He  is  what  He  claimed  to  be, 
the  Son  of  God,  the  predicted  Messiah,  the  only  Saviour  of  the 
world. 

"We  come  to  join  hands  in  the  service  of  this  Christ  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  world.  Our  union  is  in  Him.  We  cannot 
afford  to  put  Him  in  the  background  vnth  our  various  creeds  and 
denominational  distinctions  and  beliefs.  There  is  one  word  left 
out  of  this  Plan  of  Federation  which  should  be  in  it,  so  that  our 
position  and  testimony  may  be  known  clearly  and  unequivocally 
before  the  world.  We  cannot  afford  to  falter  or  to  be  misunder- 
stood on  this  point.  The  word  'divine'  should  be  written  before 
'Lord  and  Saviour'  of  the  world,  not  for  the  purpose  of  shutting 
any  one  out  of  the  Federation,  or  to  pass  judgment  upon  the  char- 
acter of  any  one  because  of  his  intellectual  belief,  or  to  deny  to 
any  party  the  Christian  name;  but  simply  because  fidelity  to  the 
truth  as  we  see  it  and  hold  it,  and  as  the  truth  has  been  entrusted 
to  us,  demands  it.  We  cannot  go  back  to  our  Churches  with  a 
plan  that  has  the  least  suspicion  tainting  it  concerning  the  divinity 
of  our  Lord,  except  to  have  it  rejected.  We  must  lift  up  the  stand- 
ard of  Jesus  Christ,  the  divine  Lord  and  Saviour  of  the  world,  and 
whoever  follows  any  other  banner,  I  for  one  cannot  go  with  him 
for  the  accomplishment  of  the  evangelization  of  the  world.    Surely, 


86  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

brethren,  we  can  see  that  the  spirit  of  oneness  in  Christ  is  increasing 
in  power.  The  great  heart  of  the  Church  is  yearning  for  its  larger 
realization.  We  have  it  among  our  young  people,  and  the  great 
gathering  of  tlie  Young  People's  Organizations  which  met  in  this 
hall  yesterday  illustrates  its  growing  strength.  The  progress  of  the 
past  in  removing  bigotry  and  exclusiveness  is  amazing.  Sixty  years 
ago  there  was  little  or  no  fellowship  among  the  denominations. 
Jealousies  and  rivalries  abounded.  When  a  few  dared  to  express 
the  hope  that  the  divisions  would  be  healed,  their  hopes  seemed  far 
off  and  impossible  of  realization. 

"But  already  the  impossible  has  been  realized  and  the  far  off 
hopes  are  near  fulfilment.  I  for  one  do  not  believe  that  the  way 
in  which  God  has  been  leading  us  is  going  to  turn  back  on  itself, 
or  that  it  will  end  in  the  air.  Let  us  be  faithful  to  the  light  Me 
have  and  walk  in  it,  and  more  light  will  come." 

Bishop  Hendrix :  "Mr.  President,  are  we  not  on  the  eve  of  con- 
fusion by  virtue  of  these  amendments  and  substitutes?  I  want  to 
say  on  behalf  of  that  strong  committee  of  forty  that  every  one  of 
them  is  profoundly  a  believer  in  the  deity  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ;  and  I  want  to  say,  moreover,  we  put  that  in  this 
paper  right  in  the  preamble,  and  you  will  find  that  the  point  that 
Dr.  Niccolls  spoke  to  related  to  other  matters  later  on.  I  think, 
therefore,  sir,  that  I  rise  properly  to  this  point  of  order,  that  no 
new  matter  can  be  discussed  here  under  this  general  question  that 
has  not  been  first  referred  to  the  Business  Committee." 

The  chairman  sustained  the  point  of  order,  explaining  further 
that  he  had  assumed  that  the  paper  offered  by  Professor  Dealey 
Avas  an  amendment  to  the  whole  report,  but  that,  as  it  clearly  re- 
ferred to  individual  items,  it  must  be  presented  when  those  sections 
were  reached  in  the  seriatim  consideration  of  the  report  under 
wliich  the  Conference  was  now  proceeding. 

By  common  consent  Professor  Dealey  was  permitted  to  witli- 
draw  his  proposed  amendments,  to  be  presented  later. 

The  chairman  stated  that  it  had  been  his  custom  to  act  upon 
the  several  items  in  such  a  report  as  was  now  under  consideration 
before  action  was  taken  upon  the  preamble,  and  asked  tlie  desire  of 
the  Conference. 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  consideration  of  the  preamble 
be  postponed,  and  that  the  first  item  in  the  report  be  adopted.     The 


DISCUSSION    OF    PLAN    OP    FEDERATION  87 

motion  was  put  and  declared  carried,  and  the  chainiian  directed 
that  the  item  be  read.  A  division  was  called  for,  and  on  a  count 
vote  it  appeared  that  the  vote  was  lost  by  87  to  67. 

The  preamble  was  then  taken  up,  being  read  to  the  Conference 
by  Dr.  Rivington  D.  Lord,  secretary  of  the  Business  Committee. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Niccolls,  D.  D.,  moved  that  the  paragraph 
be  amended  by  inserting  before  the  words  "Lord  and  Saviour"  the 
word  "Divine,"  so  as  to  read,  "their  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour." 

The  amendment  was  adopted,  and  the  preamble  as  amended 
was  adopted. 

The  secretary  of  the  committee  read  item  one  of  the  plan. 

Dr.  Wm.  Hayes  Ward,  chairman  of  the  sub-committee  of  the 
Business  Committee  which  had  prepared  the  report,  explained  the 
accidental  omission  of  certain  words  in  this  first  paragraph,  which 
should  appear  as  follows: 

For  the  prose<'ution  of  work  that  can  be  better  done  in  union  than 
in  separation,  a  Council  is  hereby  established  whose  name  shall  be 
the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America. 

On  motion  the  item  was  adopted  as  corrected. 

The  second  item  was  read.  The  secretary  stated  that  by  action 
of  the  Business  Committee  it  had  been  agreed  that  "The  Baptist 
Churches,  North."  "The  Baptist  Churches,  South,"  and  "The 
Negro  Baptist  Churches"  should  be  included  under  the  general 
title,  "The  Baptist  Churches  of  the  United  States,"  and  that  it  was 
desired  that  the  exact  designation  of  each  denomination  should  be 
furnished  to  the  committee  by  the  several  delegations  present. 

On  motion  the  item  was  adopted. 

The  third  item  was  read.  On  motion,  in  sub-section  two,  the 
word  "united"  was  substituted  for  the  word  "harmonious."  A 
motion  to  change  the  final  word  in  sub-section  one  from  singular  to 
plural,  so  as  to  read  "churches,"  was  lost.  On  motion  the  item  was 
adopted. 

The  fourth  item  was  read,  and  was,  on  motion,  adopted. 

The  fifth  item  was  read.  A  motion  to  substitute  the  word 
"composing"  for  the  words  "adhering  to"  was  lost. 

The  Rev.  Alfred  Williams  Anthony,  D.  D.,  President  of  New 
Testament  Exegesis  and  Criticism,  Cobb  Divinity  School,  and  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interdenominational  Commission  of  Maine,  Le\^^ston, 
Me.,  said: 

"I  vdsh  to  move  that  the  last  section  of  Article  Y.  be  omitted.     I 


88  CHURCH    FEDERATIO^i 

wish  to  move  the  amendment  for  these  reasons:  A  mixed  mem- 
bership will  be  provided  for,  if  this  sentence  be  retained  in  the  pro- 
posed Plan  of  Federation.  I  speak  as  a  member  of  the  Interde- 
nominational Commission  of  Maine,  where  an  actual  Federation  of 
the  Churches  is  in  operation.  That  is  but  one  federative  idea — on 
the  home  mission  plan.  Seven  distinct  federative  ideas  have  been 
enunciated  on  this  platform  during  the  progress  of  this  Conference, 
and  if  v/e  attempt  to  provide  for  the  seven,  instead  of  the  one  which 
really  pertains  to  our  work  in  hand,  we  shall  not  only  now  but  in 
time  to  come  have  great  confusion.  The  seven  distinct  plans  are 
these :  The  home  missionary  plan,  such  as  the  State  of  Maine  and 
other  States  have  in  their  interdenominational  commissions;  the 
city  plan  for  ethical  purposes,  like  New  York,  Hartford  and  Cleve- 
land ;  city  plans  for  evangelistic  purposes,  like  Providence  and  other 
cities;  there  are  plans  between  the  denominations  for  a  union,  an 
actual  amalgamation  of  denominations;  there  are  plans  that  have 
been  carried  out  in  the  foreign  mission  field  for  the  union  of  the 
Churches,  yet  outside  of  the  Church,  in  its  foreign  mission  work; 
and  plans  for  the  union  of  the  Churches,  yet  outside  of  the  Church, 
in  the  great  allied  organizations  like  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation, the  Christian  Endeavor  Society  and  similar  organizations ; 
and  the  one  overtopping,  overwhelming  form  of  alliance  with 
which  we  have  been  busied  is  the  union  of  the  Churches,  the  denomi- 
nations, the  great  Christian  bodies.  That  question,  it  seems  to  me, 
is  sufficient  for  this  body  to  consider,  and  that  is  sufficient  to 
arrange  for  membership  in  this  proposed  Federal  Council,  and  to 
allow  these  local  organizations,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  in 
cities  or  States  for  ethical  or  evangelistic  purposes,  to  form  their 
alliances  as  they  will,  but  not  with  this  body,  where  the  unit  of 
membership  should  be  the  denomination  or  Church  bearing  a  dis- 
tinctive name.  I  move,  therefore,  that  this  article  be  amended  by 
the  omission  of  that  sentence." 

The  motion  to  strike  out  was  adopted. 

The  time  of  the  business  session  was  extended  thirty  minutes. 

Dr.  Wm.  Hayes  Ward  said : 

"Mr.  Chairman,  we  have  passed  that  last  motion  very  hastily, 
and  I  desire  a  reconsideration.  It  is  the  most  important  question 
that  can  come  before  us  in  reference  to  the  Constitution  of  this 
Council,  and  for  reasons  that  concern  a  great  many  of  us  who  differ 
very  much  from  the  action  just  taken,  which  has  not  been  discussed, 
I  ask  for  a  reconsideration." 


DISCUSSION    OF    PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  89 

On  motion,  the  vote  to  strike  out  was  reconsidered. 

It  was  voted  that  speakers  be  limited  to  three  minutes. 

Secretary  Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D.,  said : 

"Mr.  President,  the  matter  of  Church  Federation  in  this  country 
has  come  up  very  largely  through  the  local  organizations  in  city, 
in  district,  or  in  State.  These  at  the  present  time  are  the  units  of 
the  federative  work.  There  is  much  to  be  said  for  that  side  of  the 
question.  We  shall  get  strength  out  of  the  practical,  democratic 
method  of  organization.  Dr.  Strong  in  his  paper  on  Saturday 
spoke  of  the  difference  between  'Federation  at  the  bottom'  and 
'Federation  at  the  top' — two  distinct  forms  of  Federation.  Eng- 
land has  'Federation  at  the  bottom' ;  it  begins  with  the  local  organi- 
zation. We  are  trying  here  to  bring  about  'Federation  at  the  top'; 
that  is,  the  organization  of  the  denominations  in  federative  work. 
But  while  we  are  doing  that,  this  local  work  of  Federation  is  going 
on,  and  is  likely  to  go  on,  provided  for  in  the  organization  of  a  local 
council,  throughout  these  coming  years.  Now,  the  proposition  in 
this  clause  of  the  report  is  that  we  shall  try  to  secure  sonle  sort  of 
representation  in  the  Federal  Council  that  shall  come  not  directly 
through  the  appointment  by  authority  of  the  legislative  bodies  of 
the  Churches,  but  from  the  representative  organizations  which  are 
at  work  in  the  field.  To  what  extent  this  can  be  done,  under  what 
limitations  of  locality,  what  basis  of  representation  can  be  adopted, 
I  think  none  of  us  is  ready  now  to  say;  but  the  principle  is  one 
which  ought  to  be  considered,  and  what  this  asks  for  is  that  the 
principle  of  local  representation  in  the  Federal  Council  be  referred 
to  the  several  constituent  bodies,  with  final  action  to  be  taken  upon 
that  principle  and  upon  any  particulars  under  that  principle,  should 
it  be  adopted,  when  we  have  the  Council  three  years  hence. 
Therefore  we,  as  a  committee,  have  put  into  the  proposed  basis  as 
mild  a  statement  as  possible,  which  would  simply  turn  the  matter 
over  for  consideration  to  the  constituent  bodies  and  to  the  next 
Federal  Council." 

Prof.  J.  Q.  Dealey: 

"We  distinctly  oppose  the  retention  of  that  clause,  if  I  voice 
distinctly  the  thought  in  Ehode  Island.  We  do  have  already  a 
local  federation  in  that  State,  organized  on  the  broadest  possible 
basis;  we  intend  to  keep  it  so.  If  you  intend  in  this  Convention 
to  make  a  national  organization  on  a  narrow  basis,  we  intend  not 
to  join,  I  think,  that  national  organization.  We  desire  to  retain 
our  own  power  to  organize  our  local  federations  as  we  wish.    We 


90  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

wish  no  authority  vested  in  the  national  body  to  determine  what 
we  ?hall  or  what  we  shall  not  include  in  our  membership." 

Rev,  WiUiam  H.  AUbright,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  Pilgrim  Congre- 
gational Church,  Dorchester,  Mass. : 

"That  matter  takes  care  of  itself  with  reference  to  these  breth- 
ren; if  they  do  not  want  to  come  in,  they  can  please  to  stay  out. 
But  there  are  two  reasons,  it  seems  to  me,  why  we  ought  not  to 
adopt  this  matter:  First,  that  we  should  make  this  body  cumber- 
some, because  there  will  be  throughout  the  country  hundreds  of 
these  district  organizations  that  will  want  to  come  in,  and  we 
shall  have  a  cumbrous  body  of  representation.  Secondly,  divisive 
factors  will  enter  in  here,  things  that  will  be  troublesome  to  us. 
People  will  come  into  this  body  that  under  our  present  thought 
of  it  and  desire  of  it  are  not  welcome  here,  as  I  feel  the  heartbeat 
of  this  body,  but  they  are  in  these  local  organizations  and  promi- 
nent there,  and  for  that  reason  I  hope  it  will  not  prevail." 

Eev.  John  J.  Tigert,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  General 
Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Nashville, 
Tenn.: 

"We  of  the  South  are  opposed  to  a  double  standard  in  anything, 
and  we  do  not  want  a  double  basis  of  representation  in  the  or- 
ganization of  this  Federal  Council.  The  single  basis  of  represen- 
tation of  the  denominations  covers  the  whole  ground;  a  second 
basis  introduces  confusion  and  will  end  possibly  in  dismember- 
ment." 

Bishop  C.  D.  Foss  moved  as  an  amendment  to  the  amendment 
that  the  words,  "to  the  several  constituent  bodies,"  be  stricken 
out,  so  that  the  paragraph  shoidd  read :  "The  question  of  repre- 
sentation of  local  councils  shall  be  referred  to  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Federal  Council." 

Dr.  Ward: 

"This  matter  was  before  the  Business  Committee,  and  the  com- 
mittee was  very  nearly  divided,  so  far  as  I  could  understand  the 
matter.  We  wished  to  present  a  unanimous  report,  and  for  that 
reason  we  took  this  action,  which  does  not  assert  either  principle, 
whether  we  shall  admit  them  or  whether  we  shall  not  admit  them. 
We  think  we  can  safely  trust  the  action  which  will  be  considered 
later,  and  we  do  not  think  there  is  time  here  or  opportunity  here 
for  a  full  discussion  of  the  matter.  In  England,  as  you  k-now, 
there  are  nine  hundred  local  councils  and  everything  is  by  local 


DISCUSSION    OF    PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  91 

councils.  We  do  not  believe  in  that.  The  proposition  that  was 
first  brought  before  the  committee  was  that  the  local  councils 
should  be  represented,  so  far  as  they  had  25,000  members  for  one 
representative.  Now,  that  would  shut  out  the  point  of  having  so 
many,  such  an  enormous  number  of  representatives,  and  I  think 
such  a  thing  as  that  would  properly  be  adopted.  Now  if  you  want 
the  money,  you  have  got  to  go  to  your  local  councils,  you  have 
got  to  go  to  your  local  bodies.  I  want  to  see  Maine  represented, 
I  want  to  see  New  York  City  represented,  and  I  believe  that  the 
men  that  are  in  the  local  councils  will  be  the  interested  ones  who 
will  be  active  and  useful  in  such  an  organization.  I  cannot  see 
any  objection.  When  it  comes  to  the  mixing, — that  seems  to  be  a 
great  question, — I  do  not  see  the  mixing.  Th&se  local  councils 
are  as  much  ofiBcial  as  we  are.  They  represent  the  local  churches. 
Those  local  churches  are  just  as  official  as  the  supreme  bodies, 
and  I  declare  that  I  can  see  no  objection  whatever  on  account  of 
the  mixing  of  it,  why  they  should  not  be  allowed  and  trusted  to  be 
represented  in  this  body." 

Dr.  Eoberts: 

"The  Business  Committee  was  somewhat  divided  in  the  first 
place  upon  the  question  now  before  us,  and  what  has  been  pre- 
sented to  you  is  in  the  nature  of  a  compromise.  As  one  member 
of  the  Business  Committee,  I  drew  attention  to  the  fact  that  in 
the  letter  calling  together  this  Conference  the  statement  was 
made,  'What  we  propose  is  a  federation  of  denominations,  to  be 
created  by  the  denominations  themselves.'  Personally,  I  am  in 
fullest  sympathy  with  the  restricting  of  this  movement  to  the 
Christian  denominations  of  this  country.  I  believe  that  this  is 
the  method  of  simplicity,  and  the  method  by  which  to  secure  re- 
sults, and  we  can  provide  for  these  other  councils,  local  in  their 
nature,  if  the  need  arises,  as  that  need  arises.  The  great  thing 
is  to  get  these  denominations  together,  with  their  solidarity,  with 
their  contiauous  life,  and  with  their  great  influence  for  good. 
God  has  blessed  abundantly  by  His  Spirit  every  denomination 
represented  upon  this  floor,  for  the  growth  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  and  as  a  source  of  comfort  and  strength  to  individual 
Christians.  Let  us  use  this  power  resident  in  the  Churches." 

The  Eev.  H.  L.  Morehouse,  D.  D.,  Corresponding  Secretary  of 
the  Baptist  Home  Missionary  Society,  New  York : 

"Mr.  Chairman :   Let  us  not  get  confused  as  to  the  main  thing 


92  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

before  us.  We  are  not  here  prepared  to  settle  the  question  once 
for  all  whether  a  single  or  double  basis  of  representation  is  desir- 
able. There  are  some  of  us  who  believe  that  the  vitality  of  this 
organization  depends  upon  its  close  relation  to  the  individual 
council,  and  that  the  constant  element  of  constituency  will  lie 
more  between  the  local  council  and  the  general  council  than  be- 
tween denominations  and  the  general  council,  and  that  the  greater 
vitality  of  the  Federal  Council  depends  upon  its  intimate  relation 
with  the  efficient  local  councils,  and  the  power  of  the  Federal 
Council  will  depend  very  largely  upon  the  presence  of  the  most 
experienced  and  able  men,  who  know  the  most  about  the  workings 
of  the  local  council,  rather  than  upon  men  who  are  outside  of  the 
local  council.  Now  we  are  not  here  to  settle  the  question  whether 
a  single  or  a  double  basis  is  desirable.  We  want  to  thresh  it  out 
in  the  course  of  the  next  three  years.  Let  us  take  time  to  do  it. 
Let  us  consider  it  in  aU  of  its  aspects,  as  we  cannot  in  the  hurried 
moments  before  us.  The  proposition  before  us  is  simply  this:  to 
defer  decision  upon  this  matter  until  1908,  and  take  time  to 
consider  it,  and  then  if  in  the  consensus  of  opinion  it  seems  unwise 
to  have  anything  more  than  a  single  representation,  deliberately 
we  can  say  so;  but  we  cannot  deliberately  and  judiciously  say  so 
to-day." 

The  motion  to  amend  by  striking  out  the  reference  to  con- 
stituent bodies  was  lost.  The  motion  to  amend  by  striking  out 
the  entire  clause  was  lost.  On  motion  the  item  was  adopted. 
Further  consideration  of  the  Plan  of  Federation  was  deferred 
until  the  afternoon  session.     (See  page  87.) 

Upon  the  general  theme,  "What  Practical  Eesults  May  Be 
Expected  from  this  Conference  ?"  addresses  were  given  as  follows : 
by  the  Kev.  F.  D.  Power,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Church 
of  Christ  (Disciples),  Washington,  D.  C.  (see  page  476)  ;  by  the 
Rev.  D.  S.  Stephens,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Chancellor  of  the  Kansas  City 
University,  Kansas  City,  Kan.,  former  President  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  General  Conference  (see  page  480) ;  by  the  Rev. 
Charles  A.  Dickey,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of  Bethany  Presbyterian 
Church,  Philadelphia,  former  Moderator  of  the  Greneral  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A.  (see  page  485)  ;  by  the 
Rev.  John  Baltzer,  D.  D.,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Home  Mis- 
sions of  the  German  Evangelical  Synod,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  (see  page 
489) ;  by  the  Rev.  Amory  H.  Bradford,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First 


DISCUSSION    OF    PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  93 

Congregational  Church,  Montclair,  N.  J.,  former  Moderator  of  the 
National  Council  of  the  Congregational  Churches  of  the  United 
States.     (See  page  494.) 

At  the  close  of  the  addresses,  the  chairman,  Bishop  Wilson, 
spoke  as  follows: 

"I  ask  the  privilege  of  saying  very  briefly  that  I  do  not  come 
here  simply  to  represent  myself.  If  I  were  not  conscious  that 
back  of  me  lies  a  great  body  of  loyal  Methodists  true  to  their  own 
Church,  who  are  just  as  true  to  this  principle  of  Federation  and 
fraternity  with  all  the  Churches  of  Christ,  I  should  not  be  here. 
1  stand  as  a  representative  of  them,  as  I  am  sure  my  colleague  in 
my  work  and  representative  of  the  same  Church,  Bishop  Hendrix, 
also  will  say. 

"I  want  to  state  once  more  that  this  matter  has  been  deepening 
and  grooving  through  the  years  past.  I  believe  that  Methodism — 
excuse  me  if  it  is  a  little  egotistic — I  believe  that  Methodism  is 
a  little  more  fraternal  and  a  little  freer  than  almost  any  other 
denomination.  We  have  no  barriers  to  cut  us  off  from  anybody 
else  that  believes  in  Jesus  Christ;  anybody  can  come  in  that  has 
that  fundamental  faith;  and  we  have  been  cultivating  it  not 
simply  in  the  formal  way,  but  as  a  matter  of  spirit,  for  years 
past,  and  we  have  come  to  this  Conference  not  simply  to  give 
voice  to  a  formal  statement  of  our  relations  to  the  great  visible 
body  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  but  to  give  intense  exhibition  to  our 
feeling  of  spiritual  fellowship  with  the  whole  Holy  Catholic 
Church,  and  we  have  done  so. 

"If  there  is  any  place  on  earth  where  the  Master  would  be  sure 
to  fulfil  His  promise,  it  would  be  here.  'Where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them,' 
but  when  all  the  branches  of  His  great  family  come  together  and 
are  represented  before  Him,  you  may  almost  see  Him  in  the  midst 
and  feel  the  touch  of  His  hand  upon  you  and  hear  His  voice.  We 
are  driven  to  lowliness  before  Him,  and  lift  full  hearts  and  stream- 
ing eyes  to  Him.  We  are  giving  the  glory  to  Him  of  our  union 
as  a  family,  as  families  gathered  together  under  one  head.  There 
is  no  other  point  of  union ;  there  is  no  other  power  that  can  bring 
us  together ;  there  is  no  attraction  but  that  which  finds  its  centre 
and  its  source  in  'Him  for  whom  every  family  in  heaven  and  earth 
is  named.' 


M  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

"As  to  results  in  years  to  come.  Fifty  years  ago  this  Confer- 
ence would  have  been  an  impossibility.  I  remember  the  jealousies 
and  distrusts  and  alienations  of  those  years,  and  I  know  that  no- 
body would  have  dreamed  of  entering  into  such  a  combination 
and  Conference  as  we  have  here  to-day ;  and  I  am  perfectly  certain 
that  in  ten,  twenty  years  to  come,  we  shall  see  results  that  we 
do  not  dream  of  to-day.  This  river  is  going  to  widen  as  it  goes 
out  from  under  the  temple,  and  it  is  going  to  fructify  all  soils 
and  all  lands,  and  the  day  is  coming  when  the  richest  harvests 
that  earth  ever  saw  will  grow  up  and  bless  all  lands  as  the  fruit 
and  result  of  our  gathering  and  singing  and  praying  here.  One 
soweth  and  another  reapeth;  we  labor,  and  others  in  years  to 
come  wiU  enter  into  our  labors.  I  shall  not  live  to  see  it,  but 
before  God  I  expect  that  in  ten,  twenty  years  to  come,  we  shall 
have  results  from  this  combination  of  Christian  forces  such  as 
have  not  been  realized  by  the  Church  of  Christ  in  the  last  two 
centuries,  and  I  thank  God  for  the  prospect.  I  need  say  no  more. 
The  blessing  of  God  is  on  the  Conference  and  will  continue  to 
follow  its  work  in  the  years  to  come." 

Communications  upon  "The  Federation  of  Men's  Clubs,"  upon 
"Divorce,"  upon  "The  Opium  and  Liquor  Traffic,"  and  upon 
"Purity"  were  received  and  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  Kev.  Frank  M.  Bristol,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Metropolitan 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Washington,  D.  C,  pronounced  the 
benediction. 


MONDAY  AFTERNOON,  NOVEMBER  TWENTIETH. 

The  Rev.  A.  E.  Dahlman,  D.  D.,  President  of  the  General 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  was  introduced  as  the  presiding  officer. 

The  hymn,  '*My  Faith  Looks  Up  to  Thee,"  was  sung. 

The  Rev.  G.  W.  Johnson,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  John  Wesley  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church,  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  read  the  Scrip- 
ture selection. 

Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  L.  Call  Barnes,  D.  D.,  Pastor 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Worcester,  Mass. 

The  order  of  business,  the  consideration  of  the  Plan  of  Federa- 
tion, was  taken  up. 


DISCUSSION    OF    PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  95 

The  sixth  item  was  read,  and,  on  motion,  adopted. 
The  seventh  item  was  read.     Its  adoption  was  moved  and 
seconded. 

Professor  J.  Q.  Dealey  offered  the  following  amendment: 

Other  Christian  bodies  not  included  in  the  list  of  organizations  above 
mentioned  may  become  constituent  members  of  the  Federal  Council,  if  they 
make  formal  application  therefor  by  January  1,  1907. 

In  explanation.  Professor  Dealey  spoke  as  follows: 

"There  is  already  in  existence  a  national  federal  body.  That 
body  has  already  organized  certain  local  federations  and  in  the 
constitution  of  that  body  it  is  provided  that  there  shall  be  no 
creedal  basis  for  Federation,  and  they  are  already  so  organized 
upon  a  broadly  non-sectarian  basis  in  Massachusetts,  New  York 
and  Ehode  Island.  We  have  members  in  our  council  of  the  Uni- 
tarian and  Universalist  bodies.  We  should  like  to  know  why  it  is 
when  this  particular  Federal  Council  was  organized  it  was  rec- 
ommended that  invitations  be  not  sent  to  these  bodies  when  the 
national  body  was  organized  on  a  purely  non-sectarian  basis? 
Why  did  they  not  do  it  under  the  constitution  of  their  organiza- 
tion? Of  course,  we  realize  that  broadly  speaking  they  did  tr\' 
to  make  a  platform  which  would  include  certain  other  denomina- 
tions which  might  not  have  come  in,  if  the  Unitarians  and  the 
ITniversalists  were  included;  but  it  does  seem  to  me  that  we 
should  decide  distinctively  and  say  plainly  that  we  do  not  want 
the  Unitarians  and  Universalists  within  the  body.  If  this  amend- 
ment should  be  passed,  these  two  bodies  could  really  come  in  by 
making  a  formal  notification  of  the  fact;  and  while  certain  other 
bodies  may  come  in  under  the  same  arrangement,  we  think  that 
there  could  be  some  project  easily  suggested  whereby  really  ob- 
noxious bodies  might  be  barred  out.  As  it  is  now,  they  cannot 
come  in  under  the  constitution.  The  constitution  provides  that 
bodies  that  apply  for  admission  may  do  so,  and  then  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  those  present  and  of  the  constituent  bodies  they 
may  be  admitted.  That  means  that  everybody  applying  for  ad- 
mission must  have  the  unanimous  consent.  'Two-thirds  of  the 
members  present'  means  the  vote  of  the  larger  denominations 
and  'two-thirds  of  the  bodies  present'  means  the  vote  of  the 
smaller  bodies  present.  The  effect  of  it,  then,  is  to  bar  out  the 
two  bodies  already  mentioned.    Now,  we  do  not  care  in  our  o'wn 


96  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

State  what  is  done,  but  we  do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  real 
reason  why  they  should  be  barred  out,  but,  if  there  is,  we  should 
declare  that  it  is  so,  as  a  guarantee  that  we  intend  to  organize 
on  the  broadest  basis  possible," 

On  motion,  consideration  of  this  item  and  amendment  was 
deferred  until  the  rest  of  the  report  should  be  acted  upon. 

The  eighth  item  was  read,  and,  on  motion,  was  adopted. 

The  ninth  item  was  read,  and  was  corrected  by  substituting  in 
paragraph  three  "the"  for  "a"  before  the  word  "President" — a 
printer's  error — and  by  including  the  Recording  Secretary  in  the 
Executive  Committee. 

Professor  Dealey  said: 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  like  to  make  one  more  amendment, 
at  the  end  of  Article  No.  3,  to  read  that  'the  State  Federations 
may  organize  their  local  councils  on  any  basis  they  may  deem  fit, 
if  it  shall  not  be  questioned  by  the  Federal  Council.'  We  offer 
this  because  in  our  own  State  we  have  included  two  bodies  not 
represented  in  this  plan  of  union  and  in  addition  we  are  glad  to 
include  in  our  State  federation  the  members  of  the  charitable  and 
philanthropic  organizations  of  the  State.  Bishop  McVickar  is  a 
member  of  our  State  council,  not  as  an  Episcopalian,  but  as  a 
member  of  the  Temperance  League.  Dr.  Faunce,  who  spoke  on 
this  platform,  is  a  member  of  our  State  council,  not  as  a  Baptist, 
but  because  he  is  the  head  of  Brown  University.  We  have,  in 
other  words,  other  organizations  outside  of  the  denominational  or- 
ganizations mentioned  here,  and  we  would  like  an  addition  to  the 
article  that  the  local  councils  may  form  their  membership  as  they 
deem  fit." 

Dr.  Eoberts: 

"Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  think  that  the  Federal  Council  will 
in  the  slightest  degree  attempt  to  interfere  with  any  organization 
such  as  that  to  which  Dr.  Dealey  has  referred.  I  sincerely  hope 
that  this  amendment  will  not  be  adopted.  It  is  the  expression 
of  a  fear  which  is  utterly  groundless.  The  Federal  Council  will 
relate  itself  only  to  such  local  coimcils  as  will  willingly  connect 
themselves  with  it.  There  can  be  no  interference  with  any  local 
organization.  I  hope  we  shall  come  clearly  to  the  understanding 
of  that  fact  in  all  that  we  do  here.  One  great  right  of  mankind  is 
the  right  of  freedom  from  interference,  and  T  oppose  this  amend- 
ment, both  for  the  sake  of  the  Federal  Council,  and  for  the  sake  of 


DISCUSSION    OF    PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  97 

the  body  on  whose  behalf  it  is  presented.  It  may  be  a  cause  of 
friction,  and  unintentional  friction,  and  that  is  another  reason 
why  I  should  prefer  to  see  it  defeated." 

Dr.  Dealey: 

"If  Dr.  Eoberts  will  agree  that  the  substance  of  his  remarks 
be  entered  on  the  minutes,  I  shall  be  entirely  satisfied  on  behalf 
of  Ehode  Island." 

Dr.  L.  Call  Barnes: 

"It  seems  that  what  Professor  Dealey  has  said  is  quite  clear 
and  feasible.  There  is  no  reasonable  objection  to  inserting  this 
amendment,  for  it  is  simply  putting  in  print  what  the  Chairman 
declares  to  be  a  fact,  and  lest  some  brethren — the  brethren  are 
not  all  here  to-day — have  not  the  opportunity  to  hear  our  Perma- 
nent Chairman  state  the  matter  so  clearly,  let  us  put  it  in  black 
and  white,  so  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  it." 

Dr.  Roberts: 

"There  are  some  things  which  ought  to  be  taken  for  granted.  I 
do  not  see  why  we  need  to  write  into  a  Plan  of  Federation  anything 
that  is  a  right  of  all  parties — liberty,  an  absolute  liberty  of  action ; 
and  there  is  no  Church  more  resolute  for  that  Liberty  than  the  one 
which  I  have  the  honor  to  serve  as  minister.  We  claim  liberty, 
but  only  the  same  liberty  which  we  accord  to  others,  and  we  do 
not  desire  that  anybody,  anywhere,  should  put  into  a  resolution 
a  liberty  which  exists,  and  which  we  ought  to  defend,  if  necessary, 
to  the  uttermost." 

The  amendment  was  lost  and  on  motion  the  item  was 
adopted. 

The  tenth  item  was  read  and   on  motion    adopted. 

The  eleventh  and  last  item  was  read. 

Professor  Dealey  proposed  to  amend  by  inserting  between 
paragraphs  two  and  three  the  following:  "Nothing  in  the  phrase- 
ology contained  in  this  plan  of  union  shall  be  construed  to  imply 
any  doctrinal  basis  whatever,  save  that  implied  by  the  broadest 
Christian  unity."  He  said:  "It  seems  to  some  of  us  that  the 
addition  to  the  preamble  shows  that  there  is  a  plan  to  constitute 
this  Council  on  a  Trinitarian  basis.  Now,  if  that  is  the  case,  let 
us  say  so;  if  not,  let  us  say  the  opposite.  I  think  that  if  this 
statement  could  be  included  in  Article  Four  there  would  be  no 
question  that  we  are  organized  on  the  broadest  possible  basis  of 
Christian  unity." 


98  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Dr.  James  M.  Buckley : 

"In  the  first  place,  this  particular  amendment  is  like  the  famous 
wooden  horse.     jVobody  could  tell  what  it  would  bring  in. 

"In  the  next  place,  much  is  said  about  a  doctrine.  The  pre- 
amble begins,  'Whereas,  in  the  providence  of  God,  the  time  has 
come  when  it  seems  fitting  more  fully  to  manifest  the  essential 
oneness  of  the  Christian  Churches  of  America  in  Jesus  Christ  as 
their  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour.'  This  is  a  Person  whom  we  wor- 
ship. There  are  in  the  world,  and  in  New  England  in  particular, 
a  large  number  of  persons  who  teach  that  the  worship  of  this 
Person  is  idolatry,  because  He  is  a  created  being  and  not  Deity. 

"Mr.  Chairman,  no  man  is  suitable  for  incorporation  in  this 
body  who  will  not  join  us  in  the  singing  of  'All  Hail  the  Power 
of  Jesus'  Name,'  and  every  line  in  it.  The  theory  on  which  I 
consented  to  take  part  in  this  body  was  this:  That  it  should 
unite  all  who  worship  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  God.  If  there 
is  anyone  who  will  not  do  that,  then  by  his  refusal  he  charges  us 
with  idolatry,  and  the  only  reason  that  we  do  not  charge  him 
with  blasphemy  is  that  we  have  the  spirit  of  charitj'^  and  admit 
that  men  might  take  the  Bible  into  their  hands  and  study  and 
have  such  a  twist  in  their  understandings  that  their  conscience 
may  uphold  them  in  not  consenting  to  the  worship  of  Jesus  Christ. 
I  have  carefully  read  this  whole  Plan  of  Federation.  My  belief 
is  that  it  provides  a  basis  for  the  union  of  the  largest  possible 
number.  As  the  proposition  is  forced  upon  us  by  one  or  two,  I 
here  and  now  declare  that  I  cannot  associate  in  any  Conference 
of  Federation  as  is  here  called  for  with  any  person  who  does  not 
heartily  worship  the  Lord  Jesus." 

Bishop  Hendrix,  chairman  of  the  Business  Committee : 

"The  question  has  been  raised :  Is  this  Plan  on  a  Trinitarian 
basis?  On  behalf  of  the  forty  men  representing  every  Church 
in  this  great  Federation  of  Christians,  and  after  prayer  and  much 
careful  consideration,  I  most  emphatically  in  their  name  say, 
'Yes.'  It  was  called  on  that  basis.  Its  whole  proceedings  have 
been  conducted  on  that  basis,  and  on  that  basis  it  voted  this 
morning,  with  only  one  dissenting  vote,  to  adopt  the  words  'Our 
Divine  Lord  and  Saviour,'  and  the  brother  who  did  so  dissent 
was  the  mover  of  the  present  amendment.  When  in  the  hours 
of  deepest  need,  we  invariably  remember  the  Scriptures,  and  how 


DISCUSSION    OF    PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  99 

the  dying  Stephen  said,  'Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit.'  So  we  put 
it  in  our  hymnology : 

My  faith   looks  up  to  Thee, 
Thou  Lamb  of  Calvary. 

*Save  Thou  me/  'Jesus,  Lover  of  My  Soul.'  There  is  not  a 
great  hymn  that  is  not  a  prayer  to  Christ  as  God,  and  this  morn- 
ing, when  there  rang  out  in  this  auditorium  that  grand  hymn  of 
Bishop  Heber's,  which  Tennyson  loved  so  much,  and  wanted  to 
have  sung  over  his  grave  at  Westminster  Abbey,  my  heart  re- 
sponded, as  the  Conference  gathered  here  and  sang  'Holy,  Holy, 
Holy,  Ijord  God  Almighty.'  Sir,  it  is  that  song  and  that  prayer 
that  pervade  this  assembly.  I  answer  for  the  conunittee:  It  is 
strictly  on  a  Trinitarian  basis." 

Dr.  L.  C.  Barnes : 

"As  a  member  of  the  Business  Committee,  I  want  to  say  that 
I  heartily  approve  of  what  has  just  been  said  by  the  last  two 
speakers  concerning  the  supremacy  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And 
I  believe  it  so  heartily  that  I  would  be  glad  to  have  the  very  few 
who  are  called  by  His  name,  but  do  not  fully  accept  it,  come  into 
an  atmosphere  like  this,  where  they  will  find  every  time  such  a 
reception  that  they  would  all  find  it  easier  to  accept  that  senti- 
ment concerning  the  Divinity  and  supremacy  of  Christ.  It  seems 
to  me  that  this  organization  has  come  together  not  only  to  declare 
what  we  already  believe,  but  also,  in  part,  at  least  in  part,  if  we 
are  followers  of  Christ  in  His  mission  in  the  world,  to  lead  other 
people  into  the  fellowship  that  is  in  adoration  of  Him;  and  for 
one  I  confess  that  my  fears  are  not  so  many  and  so  deep  as  those 
which  others  seem  to  cherish.  I  have  no  fear  that  a  million 
Presbyterians  and  four  ot  five  million  Baptists  and  five  or  six 
million  Methodists,  and  so  on,  and  so  on,  should  in  the  least  be 
harmed  if  a  few  thousand  Unitarians  and  Universalists  would  be 
willing  to  come  into  an  organization  with  such  a  preamble  as  this. 
I  should  think  that  we  had  made  splendid  advances  in  the  very 
things  for  which  we  are  organized,  and  if  men  would  be  willing 
to  ask  for  admission  we  ought  to  be  glad  to  draw  them  in  under 
such  a  preamble  as  that.  But  there  are  other  bodies  who  stand 
in  a  very  different  relation,  who  are  numerous,  and  I  would  like, 
for  one,  since  according  to  one  of  our  statements  there  is  to  be 
no  creedal  requirement  for  admission  here,  I  would  like  wonder- 


100  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

fully  to  have  such  representatives  here  as  are  willing  to  come; 
and  to  have  the  whole  Church  if  it  were  willing  to  ask  for  admis- 
sion, to  come,  b}^  its  representatives,  to  a  great  body  that  names 
the  name  of  Christ,  and  who  believe  enough; — as  a  Bishop  of  one 
of  the  great  Methodist  Churches  said  on  this  platform  concerning 
our  negro  brethren — 'they  believe,  if  anything,  too  much.'  I 
would  like  to  have  the  way  open,  if  at  any  time  in  the  next  hun- 
dred years  or  less,  our  Eoman  Catholic  friends,  who  believe  in 
the  Divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  profoundly  as  we  do,  who 
believe  all  that  we  do,  only  a  great  deal  more,  and  we  think  far 
too  much — I  would  like  to  have  the  door  left  open,  so  that  if  any 
man  at  any  time,  who  has  any  inclination  to  follow  Christ,  should 
ask  for  admission  to  this  body  with  its  great  and  overflowing 
majority  of  people  who  are  devoted  to  Jesus  Christ,  we  could 
welcome  him  here,  and  thus  perform  a  part  of  the  purpose  for 
which  we  exist." 

Dr.  Roberts: 

"Let  me  draw  to  the  attention  of  the  delegates  that  the  way  will 
be  open  for  this,  when  we  shall  have  adopted  item  No.  7,  but 
there  is  one  thing  as  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee,  which 
made  arrangements  for  this  gathering,  which  it  is  necessary  that 
I  should  again  emphasize.  The  original  resolution  which  em- 
powered the  Executive  Committee  to  proceed  with  its  work  speci- 
fied that  the  Conference  was  to  be  composed  of  representatives  of 
the  Churches  holding  evangelical  doctrines.  Now,  no  one  knows 
the  amount  of  difficulty  that  was  involved  in  the  preliminary  ar- 
rangements for  such  a  Conference  as  this  present  one,  except  those 
actually  in  the  work.  We  have  succeeded  in  bringing  here  together 
thirty  different  Christian  denominational  Churches,  among  which 
— this  is  the  truth — as  to  their  relation  one  to  another,  there  is 
an  absolute  harmony.  Brethren,  I  beseech  you,  let  us  hold  that 
situation  as  it  is.  If  you  pass  any  of  these  amendments,  I  say 
to  you  that  I  know  you  will  introduce  elements  of  discord.  Let 
us  maintain  the  harmonj'-  that  we  have  attained,  and  as  to  other 
Christian  bodies,  let  the  future  take  care  of  them  and  the  breth- 
ren who  three  years  hence  will  have  the  bearing  of  the  burdens 
which  now  are  upon  us.  I  hope  with  all  my  heart  that  there  will 
be  no  disturbance  in  any  way  whatsoever  of  the  unity  which  in 
this  hour  exists." 

The  amendment  was  lost. 


ADOPTION    OF    PLAN    OF    FEDERATION  101 

It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  last  paragraph  in  this 
item  be  amended,  so  as  to  provide  that  the  National  Federation 
of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  should  be  empowered  to  call 
a  conference  in  1908,  even  though  two-thirds  of  the  constituent 
bodies  should  fail  to  approve  and  adopt  the  Plan  now  under  con- 
sideration. 

The  motion  did  not  prevail. 

The  seventh  item,  action  upon  which  had  been  deferred,  was 
taken  up. 

The  motion  to  amend  was  lost. 

On  motion,  item  seven  was  adopted. 

Bishop  Hendrix: 

"As  Chairman  of  the  Business  Committee,  it  now  becomes  my 
duty  and  great  pleasure  to  move  the  adoption  of  the  paper  as  a 
whole.  You  have  adopted  it  item  by  item.  Permit  me  to  express 
the  profoundest  gratitude  for  the  outcome  of  the  deliberations 
of  this  large  committee,  and  of  the  unanimous  concurrence  of  this 
body  in  their  conclusion.  We  are  much  impressed  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Executive  Committee  and  of  the  Business  Committee 
reached  such  a  unanimous  conclusion.  That  speaks  of  the 
advantages  of  union.  I  know  that  there  are  myriads  during 
these  past  ten  days  who  have  been  praying  throughout  this  great 
land  that  the  representatives  of  eighteen  million  Christians  should 
more  and  more  be  one.  I  move,  sir,  the  adoption  of  the  report 
as  a  whole." 

The  Chairman: 

"It  is  moved  and  seconded  to  adopt  the  report  as  a  whole." 

Dr.  Dealey: 

"As  I  presume  that  I  shall  be  the  only  man  to  vote  against  this 
report  as  a  whole,  I  desire  to  have  on  record  the  following,  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  number  of  ministers  in  this  Conference  largely 
exceeds  that  of  the  laymen :  Should  any  important  matter  like  this 
be  settled  without  the  concurrent  voices  of  the  laity  and  the  clergy  ?" 

The  report  as  a  whole  was  adopted  by  a  rising  vote.  Professor 
Dealey  alone  voting  in  the  negative. 

The  declaration  of  the  vote  was  followed  by  loud  and  pro- 
longed applause.  The  doxolog}'  was  sung,  and  Dr.  Roberts,  at 
the  request  of  the  chairman,  led  the  Conference  in  a  prayer  of 
thanksgiving. 


102  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  general  subject  of  the  programme  for  the  session  was  "A 
United  Church  and  Evangelization."  Before  the  introduction  of 
the  speakers,  Dr.  Eoberts  said : 

"As  Permanent  Chairman  of  the  Conference,  I  desire  to  say 
that  we  have  had  to-day  a  larger  attendance  of  delegates  than  at 
any  time  at  the  meetings  of  this  Conference.  We  are  to  be  con- 
gratulated upon  the  fact.  Usually  in  great  conventions  like  this, 
the  delegates  begin  to  separate  after  the  end  of  the  first  week. 
There  are  more  here  to-day  than  there  have  been  at  any  time 
previous,  and  may  the  attendance  increase  to-morrow !" 

The  following  addresses  were  delivered: 

On  "The  Evangelization  of  American  Cities,"  by  the  Rev. 
Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D.,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  New 
York  City  Church  Extension  and  Missionary  Society  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  and  of  the  National  City  Evangelization 
Union,  New  York.     (See  page  501.) 

On  "The  Inner  Mission  of  the  German  Churches,"  by  the  Rev. 
C.  Armand  Miller,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Holy  Trinity  Lutheran  Church, 
New  York.     (See  page  509.) 

On  "The  Work  of  Evangelization  Among  the  Negroes,"  by  the 
Rev.  W.  B.  Derrick,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  African  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.    (See  page  520.) 

The  hymn,  "All  Hail  the  Power  of  Jesus'  Name,"  was  simg. 

The  general  theme  was  continued  by  an  address  on  "Interde- 
nominational Evangelistic  Work,"  by  the  Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chap- 
man, D.  D.,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Special  Committee 
on  Evangelistic  Work  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.     (See  page  525.) 

The  hymn,  "Blest  Be  the  Tie  That  Binds,"  was  sung. 

The  same  subject  was  then  discussed  in  an  address  by  the 
Rev.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Plymouth  Church, 
Brooklyn,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Evangelistic  Work  of 
the  National  Council  of  Congregational  Churches  in  the  United 
States.     (See  page  528.) 

Prayer  was  offered  by  Bishop  Eugene  R.  Hendrix. 

It  was  voted  that  the  name  of  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Calvert,  D.  D., 
be  substituted  for  that  of  President  W.  H.  P.  Faunce,  D.  D.,  re- 
signed, on  the  Committee  of  Correspondence. 

The  following  resolutions  were  received  and  referred  to  the 
Business  Committee:  on  "The  Week  of  Prayer,"  on  "Cooperation 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    CONFERENCE  103 

with  the  Press,"  on  "The  Lord's  Prayer,"  on  "Prohibition  and  Me- 
morial to  Congress." 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Kev.  Henry  M.  King, 
D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Providence,  R.  I. 


MONDAY  EVENING,  NOVEMBER  TWENTIETH. 

The  musical  service  consisted  of  the  following  hymns :  "Stand 
Up,  Stand  Up  for  Jesus,"  "Come,  Thou  Almighty  King"  and  "On- 
ward, Christian  Soldiers." 

The  Permanent  Chairman  introduced  as  the  presiding  officer 
the  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Tumbull,  D.  D.,  the  chairman  of  the  dele- 
gation from  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  reading  of  the  Scriptures  (Romans  13)  was  by  the 
Right  Rev.  Thomas  A.  Jaggar,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  Boston,  Mass.  The  Rev.  Charles  0.  Day, 
D.  D.,  President  of  the  Faculty  of  the  Andover  Theological  Semi- 
nary, Andover,  Mass.,  offered  prayer. 

Upon  the  general  theme,  "A  United  Church  and  the  National 
Life,"  addresses  were  made  as  follows : 

On  "The  Popular  Conscience,"  by  the  Honorable  Peter  S. 
Grosscup  (Lutheran),  Judge  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court, 
Chicago,  111.     (See  page  537.) 

On  "Law  and  Justice,"  by  the  Honorable  David  J.  Brewer 
(Congregational),  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  Washington,  D.  C.     (See  page  547.) 

On  "Government  by  the  People,"  by  Professor  Henry  Wade 
Rogers,  LL.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal),  Dean  of  the  Law  School 
of  Yale  University,  New  Haven,  Conn.     (See  page  554.) 

The  hymn  "America"  was  sung. 

The  Rev.  Cyrus  D.  Foss,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  pronoimced  the  bene- 
diction. 


TUESDAY  MORNING,  NOVEMBER  TWENTY-FIRST. 

The  Rev.  James  M.  Farrar,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  First  Re- 
formed Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  President  of  the  General  Synod 
of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  presided  to  the  close  of  the 


104  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

first  part  of  the  session,  when  the  Rev.  M.  H.  Hutton,  D.  D.,  Pastor 
of  the  Second  Keformed  Church,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  President 
of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
America,  took  the  chair. 

After  the  singing  of  the  hymn,  '-'Hail  to  the  Lord's  Anointed/" 
the  Rev.  Bradford  P.  Ra}Tnond,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  President  of 
Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn.,  read  the  Seventieth 
Psalm.  Prayer  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  A.  H.  Lewis,  D.  D. 
(Seventh  Day  Baptist),  Editor  of  the  '-'Sabbath  Recorder,"  Plain- 
field,  N.  J. 

The  minutes  of  Monday,  November  20,  were  read  and  ap- 
proved. 

The  following  resolutions  were  received  and  referred  to  the 
Business  Committee:  "Empowering  the  Executive  Committee  to 
Relate  Women's  Federations  to  the  Federal  Council,"  "On  Negro 
Evangelization,"  "On  the  John  C.  Martin  Fund." 

Upon  recommendation  of  the  Committee  on  Correspondence 
the  following  reply  to  the  letter  of  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Ripon  was 
adopted : 

To  the  Right  Reverend  William  Boyd  Cari^enter,  the   Lord  Bishop  of 

Ripon,  England: 

The  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation,  assembled  in  session 
in  the  City  of  New  York,  November  15-21,  1905,  responds  most  cordially 
to  your  Christian  salutations. 

We  make  no  doubt  that  the  harmony  which  has  prevailed  and 
the  unanimity  with  which  results  have  been  reached  are  in  answer 
to  the  prayers  of  yourself  and  others  who  hold  the  truth  in  the  unity 
of  the  spirit  and  in  the  bond  of  peace.  May  the  blessing  of  our 
common  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  rest  richly  upon  you  and  the  Church 
which  you  represent. 

The  Committee  on  Correspondence,  through  its  chairman, 
the  Rev.  John  J.  Tigert,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  submitted  the  draft  of  a 
communication  to  be  sent  to  the  several  Churches  enumerated  in 
the  Plan  of  Federation,  which  was  amended  by  the  insertion  of  a 
paragraph  concerning  the  election  of  delegates  and  adopted  as  thus 
amended : 

The  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation,  assembled  in  the  City 
of  New- York,  to  the  {here  insert  name  of  church),  greeting,  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour: 

It  is  our  privilege  formally  to  announce  to  you  that,  through  the 
leadership   of   the   Holy    Spirit,   the  evangelical    Churches   of   America 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  CORRESPONDENCE  105 

represented  in  this  Conference,  have  at  length  realized  that  for  which 
they  have  long  devoutly  prayed,  namely,  the  perfection  of  a  Plan 
of  Federation  in  Christian  service,  by  which  they  may  the  better  mani- 
fest the  unity  of  Christ's  Church  and  extend  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers,  at 
its  session  in  Washington,  D.  C,  February  4  and  5,  1902,  adopted  a 
resolution  "That  a  Committee  of  Correspondence  be  appointed  to  act 
in  behalf  of  the  Federation  in  requesting  the  highest  ecclesiastical 
or  advisory  Boards  of  the  evangelical  denominations  in  our  country 
to  appoint  representative  delegates  to  a  Conference  to  be  held  in  the 
autumn  of  1905."  The  intention  from  the  beginning,  it  will  be  seen, 
was  to  seek  the  Federation  of  evangelical  Churches  only,  already 
In  fraternal  relations  and  in  substantial  agreement  as  to  fundamental 
Christian  doctrines.  In  reply  to  the  Letter  of  Invitation  sent  out  by 
the  Committee,  an  affirmative  response  was  received  from  twenty-eight 
denominations,  which  are  represented  by  their  duly  appointed  dele- 
gates in  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation,  sitting  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  November  15-21,  1905.  This  Conference  is,  there- 
fore, no  voluntary  gathering  of  individuals  or  of  societies,  but  a  meet- 
ing of  the  appointed  delegates  of  the  participating  Churches.  The 
action  of  the  Conference,  reached  with  approximate  unanimity,  and 
with  many  expressions  of  essential  unity  in  the  one  Divine  Master 
ar  1  Lord,  who  so  evidently  presided  over  the  deliberations  of  an 
assembly  where  all  stood  on  the  common  level  of  brethren,  is  accord- 
ingly communicated  for  approval  to  the  supreme  governing  or  advisory 
bodies  of  the  denominations  concerned. 

In  communicating  to  you  the  Plan  of  Federation,  recommended 
for  adoption  by  the  constituent  Christian  bodies,  we  desire  to  draw 
your  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Plan  was  prepared  with  great 
care  and  deliberation  by  a  large  committee  of  forty  members,  on 
which  all  the  Chiu-ches  uniting  in  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on 
Federation  were  represented.  The  Report  came  before  the  Confer- 
ence as  the  unanimous  recommendation  of  this  large  and  wise  com- 
mittee, and,  after  careful  consideration  in  several  sessions  of  tlie 
Conference,  was,  with  slight  modification,  adopted  with  great  cordiality 
and  a  unanimity  broken  by  but  one  dissenting  voice.  The  Conference 
is  hopeful  that  the  conclusions  thus  harmoniously  reached  by  the  dele- 
gates of  the  Churches  may  prove  the  happy  augury  of  like  action  on 
the  part  of  the  constituent  Churches  to  which  this  communication 
is  sent. 

Allow  us  to  say  that  from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  our  sittings 
the  spirit  of  Christian  brotherhood  and  the  sense  of  oneness  in  our 
common  Lord  have  ruled  the  intercourse  and  consultations  of  the 
delegates  of  the  Churches.  In  the  moment  of  the  adoption  of  the 
Plan  of  Federation,  now  submittod  for  your  ratification,  the  hearts 
of  all  flowed  together  as  the  heart  of  one  man,  and  the  Conference 
spontaneously  united  in  singing  "Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings 
flow." 

Since  the  beginning  of  our  Conference  there  has  been  a  manifest 
Oneness   of   conviction   on   the  need   of   Federation,   that   the   Church 


106  CHVRGE    FEDERATION 

might  array  her  united  forces  against  the  gigantic  evils  of  the  times. 
Only  with  united  voice  and  by  concerted  action  can  the  Church  suc- 
cessfully antagonize  such  evils  as  the  liquor  traffic,  unscriptural  divorce, 
desecration  of  the  Lord's  Day,  and  the  social  evil ;  or  can  she  hope 
to  solve  such  problems  as  arise  out  of  the  needs  of  city  evangelization, 
the  relations  of  capital  and  labor  and  the  influx  of  foreign  immi- 
gration. Accordingly,  the  labors  of  the  Conference  have  been  directed 
throughout  to  devising  a  practicable  Plan  of  Federation  through  which 
all  these  and  other  desirable  and  urgent  ends  may  be  achieved.  This 
Plan,  the  best  that  the  wisdom  of  your  delegates  could  frame,  is  now 
submitted  to  you  with  the  confident  belief  that  the  favorable  action 
of  the  constituent  bodies  thereupon  will  be  an  important  forward  step 
in  unifying  the  Churches  and  making  them  more  effective  against 
the  common  foe. 

When  your  body  shall  have  taken  action  on  the  Plan  of  Federa- 
tion, a  copy  of  which  is  appended  to  this  communication,  it  is  respect- 
fully requested  that  your  Secretary  shall  forward  an  attested  copy 
of  said  action  to  the  Rev.  Elias  B.  Sanford,  D.  D.,  Secretary,  81  Bible 
House,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

We  further  request  that,  immediately  upon  the  approval  of  the 
Plan  of  Federation,  you  will  elect  your  delegates,  with  alternates,  to 
the  Federal  Council,  and  forward  to  the  Secretary  their  names  and 
postoffice  addresses. 

We  trust  that  we  are  not  overbold,  brethren,  in  interpreting  the 
significant  unanimity  of  this  Conference  to  mean  that  Christians  of 
the  several  communions  are  nearer  than  ever  before  to  their  common 
Lord;  and  we  pray  that,  speaking  the  truth  in  love,  we  may  continue 
to  grow  up  into  Him  in  all  things  who  is  the  Head,  even  Christ;  from 
whom  the  whole  body  fitly  joined  together  and  compacted  by  that 
which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the  effectual  working  In  the 
measure  of  every  part,  maketh  increase  of  the  body  unto  the  edify- 
ing of  itself  in  love. 

On  behalf  of  the  Committee  on  Correspondence, 

JOHN   J.   TIGERT,   Chairman. 
J.  E.  CLARKE,  Secretary. 

On  motion  it  was  voted  that  this  letter  should  be  signed  by 
the  Permanent  Chairman  and  the  Chief  Secretary,  and  that  the 
names  of  the  Committee  on  Correspondence  and  the  names  of  all 
the  delegates  of  the  Conference  be  appended. 

Upon  recommendation  of  the  Business  Committee,  reporting 
through  its  secretary,  the  Eev.  B.  D.  Lord,  D.  D.,  the  following 
resolutions  were  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  National  Federa- 
tion of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  is  hereby  requested  and 
authorized  to  act  for  this  Inter-Church  Conference  as  the  organizing 
committee,   to  carry  forward  the  work  made  necessary  by  the   adojH 


RESOLUTIONS  107 

tioa  of  the  Plan  of  Federation,  report  to  be  made  to  the  Federal  Council 
in  1908. 

Resolved,  That  there  be  nominated  by  the  Conference  for  addition 
to  the  membership  of  the  Executive  Committee  one  representative  for 
each  of  the  constituent  bodies  not  now  represented  thereon. 

Resolved,  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  and  hereby  is  author- 
ized to  appeal  to  the  Churches  for  funds  wherewith  to  meet  the 
necessary  expenses  of  the  work. 

The  Kev.  L.  Call  Barnes,  D.  D.,  Chairman  of  the  Sub-Com- 
mittee on  Eesolutions,  reported  from  the  Business  Committee  the 
following  series  of  resolutions  for  the  consideration  of  the  Confer- 
ence: 

RESOLUTIONS. 

In  the  nature  of  the  case  this  first  Inter-Church  Conference  on 
Federation  has  been  devoted  mainly  to  self-discovery  and  organization. 
The  specific  endeavors  which  it  is  to  further  require  time  and  wide, 
careful  study  for  their  precise  formulation.  But  we  cannot  well  sep- 
arate without  making  a  concise  and  positive  afiirmation  on  some  of 
the  subjects  which  have  occupied  the  favorable  attention  of  the  Con- 
ference, especially  on  those  which  are  most  fundamental  and  on  some 
which  are  most  pressing  at  the  present  time. 

We  recommend  that  the  rest  of  the  resolutions  which  have  been 
offered  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Correspondence  for  further 
consideration.    For  immediate  adoption  we  recommend  the  following: 

I.     CONCERNING  THE   FAMILY. 

Whereas,  The  foundation  of  all  society  is  the  family : 

Resolved,   (a)  That  we  urge  upon  parents  the  supreme  importance 

of   family   religion,    including   the   careful    religious    education    of   the 

young ; 

(6)   That  we  urge  upon  law-makers  the  need  of  uniform  divorce 

laws  and  that  these  laws  shall  conform  to  a  high  standard ; 

(c)  That  we  urge  upon  officiating  ministers  the  strict  observance 
of  New  Testament  ideals  as  to  marriage  and  remarriage ; 

(d)  That  in  the  interest  of  the  family — as  well  as  of  general  social 
order  and  individual  welfare — we  urge  upon  those  who  make  laws  and 
upon  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  enforce  the  laws  that  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage  should  be  restricted  to 
the  utmost  limit  righteously  enforceable; 

(e)  That  this  principle  applies  with  peculiar  emphasis  to  the  abo- 
riginal wards  of  our  Nation  and  to  undeveloped  and  susceptible  races 
iu  other  lands  where  we  sustain  commercial  relations. 

II.     CONCERNING   THE   SOCIAL  ORDER. 
Wheeeas,  In  the  Divine  order  of  things  there  can  be  no  discord 
between  labor  and  the  accumulated  results  of  labor  known  as  capital : 


108  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Resolved,  (a)  That  private  capital  in  every  instance  ought  to  be 
administered  as  a  sacred  trust  for  the  common  weal, — this  not  merely 
in  the  distribution  of  surplus  wealth,  but  also  in  all  the  active,  pro- 
ductive uses  of  capital,  the  law  of  God  requiring  not  only  beneficence 
instead  of  corrupting  extravagance,  but  also  instead  of  gi-eedy  produc- 
tion, productive  activities  conducted  on  lines  most  considerate  of  the 
ultimate  well-being  of  the  whole  community  and  the  immediate  welfare 
of  the  immediate  workers; 

(b)  That  each  party  in  the  complex  whole  of  society  must  patiently 
endeavor  to  appreciate  others  and  to  cooperate  with  all  in  creating  by 
evolution  the  best  social  system  and  complete  social  harmony: 

(c)  That  we  see  in  the  numerous  revelations  of  "graft"  in  many 
high  places  of  business  and  politics  the  system  of  a  widespread  commer- 
cialism which  Jesus  called  "covetousness"  and  condemned  more  severely 
than  any  other  vice,  and  which  has  in  our  time  sanctioned  many 
customs  that  are  not  only  wicked,  but  criminal ;  and  we  urge  that,  while 
public  indignation  is  aflame,  all  unrighteous  political  and  commercial 
customs  of  rich  and  poor  shall  be  brought  to  the  bar  of  conscience  by 
faithful  preachers,  teachers  and  publicists,  and  especially  that  the 
pernicious  doctrine  that  "corporations  have  no  souls"  shall  be  set  aside 
for  Milton's  great  teaching  that  nations,  and  therefore  parties,  and  all 
associations,  are  "moral  persons,"  to  the  end  that  the  highest  standards 
of  honor  and  honesty  that  men  set  for  themselves  in  individual  action 
may  be  maintained  also  when  they  act  together,  whether  in  religion  or 
business  or  politics; 

(d)  "We  believe  the  manifold  and  often  disguised  forms  of  popular 
gambling,  now  in  vogue,  especially  betting  on  elections  and  on  college 
games,  and  the  use  of*  (valuable)  prizes  in  social  games,  should  prompt 
the  churches  to  increase  warnings  and  instruction  on  the  subject,  that 
all  may  know,  in  the  words  of  the  New  York  Supreme  Court,  that 
"Whenever  it  is  determined  by  chance,  what  or  how  much  one  gets  for 
his  money,  it  is  a  lottery,"  and  also  that  the  essence  of  the  sin  of 
gambling  consists  in  trifling  with  the  sacred  trust  of  property,  and  In 
the  getting  of  something  of  value  in  a  business  transaction  without 
a  fair  exchange; 

(e)  That  In  the  enactment  and  enforcement  of  laws  against  Im- 
purity we  believe  the  great  saying  of  Gladstone  should  be  decisive,  that 
"It  Is  the  purpose  of  the  law  to  make  it  as  hard  as  possible  to  do 
wrong,  and  as  easy  as  possible  to  do  right,"  and  this  principle,  as  well 
as  the  results  of  experience,  we  believe  to  be  against  all  schemes  of 
segregation  and  regulation,  and  that  in  the  words  of  President  Roose- 
velt, "the  only  way  to  reduce  the  consequences  of  this  vice  Is  to  reduce 
the  vice,"  which  can  be  accomplished  liy  educating  our  youth  In  the 
laws  of  purity  and  by  protecting  them  against  the  foul  literature  and 
pictures  and  shows  that  corrupt  the  chambers  of  imagery  and  kindle 
the  flames  of  a  passion  intended  for  pure  and  noble  purposes. 


♦See  page  110. 


RESOLUTIONS  109 

III.    CONCERNING   EDUCATION. 

Whebeas,  The  future  is  to  be  made  by  the  rising  generation : 
Resolved,   That   educational    institutions    and    curricula    of    every 
grade,  both  public  and  private,  should  make  their  paramount  interest 
the  cultivation  of  efficient  moral  character.     "One  Ideal  is  vporth  more 
than  twenty  ideas." 

IV.    CONCERNING   RELIGIOUS   ACTIVITIES. 

Whebeas,  The  introduction  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  into  all 
human  life  is  our  one  comprehensive  and  united  aim : 

Resolved,  (c)  That  in  pushing  the  frontiers  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  on  earth  we  earnestly  urge  all  missionary  bodies  for  work  both 
at  home  and  abroad  that  they  establish  methods  of  comity  and  co- 
operation, where  they  are  not  already  begun,  and  in  all  cases  carry  out 
such  methods  to  the  fullest  degree  practicable; 

(ft)  That  we  urge  upon  the  local  churches  that  the  same  principles 
of  comity  and  cooperation  should  be  put  in  practice  through  the  co- 
operative parish  plan  or  similar  ways  of  working  together; 

(c)  That  having  already  learned  to  combine  our  Christian  en- 
deavors along  many  lines  without  impairing  the  efficiency  of  the  distinc- 
tive truths  which  we  feel  ourselves  severally  commissioned  to  em- 
phasize, but  rather  enlarging  the  field  of  these  distinctive  missions,  the 
time  has  now  come  to  put  redoubled  devotion  and  united  energy  into 
the  three  supreme  lines  of  service  common  to  all,  namely,  evangeliza- 
tion. Christian  education  and  ministration. 

V.    CONCERNING    INTERNATIONAL   AFFAIRS. 

Whebeas,  This  Conference  has  already  taken  action  on  the  human- 
itarian  emergency  in  Russia ;  and 

Whebeas,  This  Inter-Church  Conference,  composed  of  delegates 
appointed  by  different  denominations  comprising  a  vast  majority  of 
Christian  communicants  in  America,  recalls  that  profound  satisfaction 
awakened  twenty  years  ago  in  all  Christian  hearts  by  the  announce- 
ment that,  with  the  solemn  sanction  of  a  Congress  of  Nations,  a  great 
work  in  the  interests  of  humanity  had  been  entered  upon  in  the  Congo 
River  Basin  of  Africa,  under  the  leadership  of  King  Leopold  II  of 
Belgium ;  and, 

Whebeas,  In  some  way  contrary  to  the  original  purpose,  as  an- 
nounced to  the  world,  great  and  terrible  wrongs  have  transpired  and 
have  at  last  become  evident  beyond  doubt  in  the  mind  of  the  whole 
civilized  world: 

Resolved,  (a)  That  we  earnestly  insist  in  the  name  of  Christ  and 
of  the  human  race  for  which  He  sacrificed  His  life,  that  nothing  less 
than  the  immediate,  thorough-going  and  permanent  righting  of  these 
tragic  wrongs  can  satisfy  the  common  conscience  of  Christendom ; 


110  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

(&)  That  we  urge  that  the  facts  of  the  existing  situation  should 
be  investigated  by  a  tribunal  beyond  suspicion  of  partiality,  created  by 
the  Powers  through  whose  action  the  Congo  State  has  its  being ; 

(c)  That  in  view  of  the  prominent  part  borne  by  the  United  States 
in  the  recognition  of  the  Congo  State,  we  urge  that  our  Government 
should  take  action  for  the  promotion  of  this  international  inquiry. 

On  behalf  of  the  Business  Committee. 

L.    CALL    BARNES, 
Chairman  of  the  Sub-Committee  on  Resolutions. 

It  was  moved  by  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Allbright,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of 
Pl3maouth  Congregational  Church,  Dorchester,  Ma§s.,  that  in  divis- 
ion two,  sub-section  (c)  of  the  resolutions,  the  word  "dishonesty" 
be  substituted  for  the  word  "graft."  The  motion  was  seconded 
and,  after  discussion,  was  lost  by  a  rising  vote.  It  was  voted, 
after  discussion,  to  strike  out  in  division  two,  sub-section  (d)  the 
word  "valuable"  in  the  sentence  "and  the  use  of  valuable  prizes  in 
social  games."     This  was  done  by  a  rising  vote. 

The  reading  of  the  resolution  upon  the  temperance  question 
was  called  for.  (Division  one,  sub-sections  (d)  and  (e).)  It  was 
moved  by  the  Rev.  John  Galbraith,  D.  D.  (Methodist  Episcopal), 
Presiding  Elder  of  the  Boston  District,  New  England  Conference, 
that  the  resolution  be  so  amended  as  to  urge  "the  destruction 
of  the  licensed  liquor  traffic."  The  motion  was  seconded.  After 
discussion  it  was  moved  by  the  Rev.  George  Elliott,  D.  D.,  Pastor 
of  Central  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Detroit,  Mich.,  that  this 
portion  of  the  report  be  recommitted.  The  motion  was  seconded 
and,  after  further  discussion,  was  lost.  The  chairman,  under- 
standing that  the  motion  to  amend  had  been  withdrawn,  put  the 
motion  upon  the  adoption  of  the  report  as  a  whole,  and  the 
motion  prevailed. 

Permanent  Chairman  Roberts  requested  the  several  delega- 
tions from  the  bodies  not  now  represented  on  the  organiziag  com- 
mittee, provided  for  by  recent  resolution  of  the  Conference,  to 
make  their  nominations  and  report  the  same  at  the  close  of  the 
morning  session. 

Under  the  general  theme,  "A  United  Church  and  Christian 
Progress,"  the  following  addresses  were  made: 

On  "Ecclesiastical  Fraternity,"  by  the  Rev.  S.  Parkes  Cadman, 
D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Central  Congregational  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
(See  page  567.) 


E00LE8IA8TWAL   FRATERNITY  111 

On  "Missionary  Activity,"  by  the  Eev.  J.  Eoss  Stevenson, 
D.  D.,  Pastor  of  Fifth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  New  York. 
(See  page  575.) 

On  "World  Conquest,"  by  the  Eev.  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  President  of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New 
York.   (See  page  580.) 

The  address  on  "Social  Eedemption"  was  not  delivered,  owing 
to  the  absence  of  the  speaker,  the  Eev.  Ernest  M.  Stires,  D.  D., 
Eector  of  St.  Thomas's  Church,  New  York. 

The  Eev.  James  M.  Buckley,  D.  D.,  LL.  L>.,  in  discussion  of  the 
general  theme,  said:  "Mr.  President,  I  speak  in  part  lest  tliis 
most  important  subject  should  not  have  a  representation  except 
among  those  prepared  and  announced,  but  not  without  thoughts 
which  have  been  engendered  while  listening  to  these  three  most 
remarkable  and  equally  satisfactory  addresses.  In  the  last  ad- 
dress the  ascent  and  the  descent  in  the  liighest  sense  of  both 
worlds  have  been  reached.  The  bedrock  was  that  on  which  the 
speaker  stood,  and  he  carried  us,  after  the  manner  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, step  by  step  up  into  the  very  centre  of  our  spiritual  heaven. 

"With  regard  to  ecclesiastical  fraternity:  The  first  thing  that 
crystallized  it  was  the  Evangelical  Alliance  and  what  immediately 
preceded,  looking  toward  it.  The  next  thing  on  a  large  scale 
in  this  country  was  the  establishment  and  marvelous  spread  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  which  was  followed  by 
the  great  general  revival  of  1857  and  1858.  In  that  revival  there 
was  more  melting  of  exterior  icy  obstacles  to  unity  than  there  had 
been  before.  I  see  no  more  difficulty,  with  the  most  absolute  de- 
votion to  our  fundamental  denominational  differences,  in  main- 
taining the  spirit  of  true  heart-union  than  in  anything  else  re- 
quired of  Christians.  Wherever  there  is  actually  sectarian 
bigotry  it  depends  not  upon  the  subjects  discussed,  but  upon  the 
dispositional  nature  of  the  debater  and  the  effects  of  rhetorical 
heat.  Anywhere,  a  man  who  becomes  heated  with  his  own 
rhetoric,  even  on  the  Christian  doctrine  that  love  is  'the  greatest 
thing  in  the  world,'  can  be  bitter.  A  minister  speaking  in  Eng- 
land on  faith,  hope  and  love,  heated  himself  so  much  that  when 
a  woman  cried  out,  '1  believe  it,'  he  turned  on  her  and  said: 
'Woman,  you  must  believe  it  or  be  damned.'  There  is  a  certain 
sickishness  of  union.  It  was  rebuked  in  Plainfield  some  years 
ago.     A  worthy  pastor,  an  extremely  gushing  speaker  at  times, 


112  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

at  the  close  of  a  meeting  where  all  denominations  were  repre- 
sented, said:  'Why  can't  we  come  together  organically?  What 
separates  the  Episcopalians  from  the  rest  of  us?  Only  a  theory 
of  orders  and  a  liturgy.  What  separates  the  Presbyterians  ?  Only 
a  system  of  government  and  some  metaphysical  distinctions.  What 
separates  the  Methodists  from  them?  Only  their  itinerancy  and 
some  of  their  too  "easy  admission"  movements  and  the  idea  that 
some  people  can  fall.'  The  audience  was  getting  sick  of  such 
eentimentality.  His  next  allusion  was  to  the  Baptists.  'What 
separates  the  Baptists  from  us?  Nothing  but  a  stream  of 
water.'  At  that  point  a  well  knovm  Baptist  minister  arose  and 
said :   *If  that  is  all,  we  will  meet  you  half  way!' 

"1  was  in  a  Negro  assembly  in  Eichmond,  Va.,  in  1869.  The 
Baptists  were  there  and  the  Methodists  were  there.  The  brother 
in  charge  rose,  an  expansive  man  in  size,  and  extending  his  arms 
said :  'Brethren,  we  can't  see  eye  to  eye,  but,  thank  God,  we 
can  see  heart  to  heart.' 

"In  Stamford,  Conn.,  a  union  meeting  was  held  in  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  all  evangelical  denominations  being  repre- 
sented there.  Some  one  made  a  sectarian  intimation,  and  up  rose 
a  stranger  and  made  this  speech:  'Mr.  Chairman,  May  I,  a  High 
Churchman,  just  over  from  England,  be  allowed  to  speak?' 

"  'Certainly,'  said  the  chairman ;  'any  man  who  loves  God  and 
hopes  to  promote  the  cause  by  what  he  says  can  speak  in  this 
meeting.' 

"  'Well,'  said  he,  'if  I  were  to  get  into  an  argument  with  you 
we  could  not  stay  here.  I  do  not  believe  your  ideas  are  right 
unless  you  are  a  High  Churchman.  But  I  want  to  lay  down  a 
proposition  on  which  we  can  all  agree  everywhere  and  under  all 
circumstances.'  Where  he  got  his  poetry  I  do  not  know,  but 
he  delivered  himself  of  this : 

'When  do  Christians  all  agree 

And  their  distinctions  fall? 
When  nothing  in  themselves  they  see, 

And  Christ  is  all  in  all.' 

The  Committee  on  Correspondence  made  its  final  report 
through  its  secretary,  the  Eev.  James  E.  Clarke.  On  its  recommen- 
dation the  following  resolutions  were  adopted: 

First — Concerning  sympathy  with  the  Free  Churches  of  Eng- 
land. 


REV.  E.  B.  SANKOKI).  J).l) 


REV.  KERR  BOYCE  TUPPER,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


REV.  JOACHIM  ELMENDORF,  D.D.  REV.  -TOIIN   J.  TIGERT,  D.D.,  LL.D 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON   CORRESPONDENCE  113 

Whekeas,  All  bodies  of  Christians  in  tlais  country  find  it  greatly 
to  the  advantage  of  the  cause  of  Christ  to  be  entirely  free  from 
control  by  the  State  or  disparagement  in  connection  therewith, 

Resolved,  That  we  hereby  express  our  profound  sympathy  with 
the  Free  Churches  of  England  in  their  present  sufferings  and  struggles 
in  behalf  of  this  principle. 

Second — Concerning  prohibition  in  the  Indian  Territory. 

Whereas,  The  Indian  Territory,  either  separately  or  in  connec- 
tion with  Oklahoma,  is  likely  soon  to  be  admitted  as  a  State,  and 

Wheeeas,  During  the  seventy-three  years  the  Indians  have  been 
the  wards  of  the  Federal  government,  that  government  has  protected 
them  by  a  strict  prohibition  of  the  traflBc  among  them  in  intoxicating 
liquors;  and. 

Whereas,  The  five  civilized  tribes  agreed  to  the  surrender  of 
their  tribal  organization  and  the  allotment  of  their  lands  only  after 
a  pledge  had  been  made  to  them  by  the  United  States  that  such 
prohibition  should  be  continued,  which  agreement  is  still  binding  upon 
the  American  people;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  this  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation  respect- 
fully reminds  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  this  obligation 
and  insists  that  no  State  constitution  covering  the  Indian  Territory 
shall  he  accepted,  unless  such  constitution  contains  adequate  provision 
for  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traflSc  within  the  proposed  State. 

Third — Concerning  cooperation  with  the  press. 

This  Conference,  representing,  as  it  does,  by  official  delegates, 
eighteen  million  communicant  members  of  the  Protestant  Churches  of 
America  and  adherents  to  an  equal  number,  wishes  to  recognize  the 
favorable  and  sympathetic  attitude  of  the  newspaper  press  of  America 
toward  the  interests  of  religion.  We  view  with  profound  gratification 
the  splendidly  increasing  trend  of  the  newspaper  world  toward  a  fuller, 
more  accurate  and  more  appreciative  treatment  of  the  news  of  the 
Churches,  both  local  and  general.  We  hail  as  one  of  the  promising  signs 
of  the  times  the  fact  that  many  daily  newspapers — and  their  number 
appears  to  be  increasing — so  fully  realize  their  high  mission  as  public 
teachers  and  as  servants  of  humanity  that  they  habitually  publish  edi- 
torial treatment  of  great  religious  and  moral  questions,  in  addition  to 
frequent  special  articles  on  religious  subjects. 

The  Christian  people  of  America  want  to  cooperate  with  the  power- 
ful press.  We  want  the  press  to  cooperate  with  us.  The  importance  of 
churchgoers  as  a  leading  class,  comprising  as  they  do  more  than  half 
the  population  of  the  country,  doubtless  warrants  us  in  expressing  this 
desire. 

In  thus  declaring  ourselves,  we  believe  we  voice  the  sincere  convic- 
tion of  our  constituency,  which  is  also  the  larger  part  of  the  constitu- 
ency of  the  press. 


114  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

We  request  the  Permanent  Chairman  of  this  Conference  to  send 
this  resolution,  with  an  appropriate  letter,  to  the  leading  daily  papers 
and  to  the  Associated  Press. 

The  Committee  concluded  its  report  as  follows : 

Concerning  the  other  papers  referred  to  us  or  given  in  the  sessions, 
the  subjects  presented  have  either  been  already  covered  by  the  report  of 
the  Business  Committee  or  lie  entirely  outside  of  the  jurisdiction  of  a 
Committee  on  Correspondence.  We,  therefore,  make  no  report  on  them, 
save  to  recommend  that  they  be  referred  to  the  Federal  Council  with  the 
request  that  that  body  be  urged  to  give  special  attention  to  the  impor- 
tance of  cooperation  in  the  evangelization  and  education  of  the  colored 
citizens  of  the  United  States. 

On  behalf  of  the  Committee  on  Correspondence, 

JOHN    J.    TIGERT,  Chairman. 
JAMES    E.    CLARKE.  Secretary. 

On  motion  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Correspondence,  as 
a  whole,  was  adopted. 

A  communication  from  the  Rev.  J.  F.  Burnett,  D.  D.,  Secre- 
tary of  the  American  Christian  Convention,  Muncie,  Ind.,  was 
received  and  referred  to  the  Business  Committee. 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev.  George  Wylie 
Clinton,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 


TUESDAY  AFTERNOOX,  NOVEMBER  TWENTY-FIRST. 

The  Permanent  Chairman  called  the  Conference  to  order. 
The  hymn,  "Stand  Up,  Stand  Up  for  Jesus,"  was  sung.  The 
Rev.  John  J.  Tigert,  D.  D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  read  the  Scriptures  (Isaiah  -40).  Prayer  was  offered  by 
the  Rev.  Wayland  Hoyt,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Memorial 
Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  The  minutes  of  the  morning 
session  were  read  by  the  Rev.  Asher  Anderson,  D.  D.,  one  of  the 
secretaries,  and  approved  by  the  Conference. 

On  motion  of  the  Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D.,  it  was  voted 
that  the  secretaries  be  empowered  to  complete  the  minutes  and 
that  they  be  printed  under  the  direction  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. 

The  Business  Committee,  through  its  secretary,  the  Rev.  R.  D. 
Lord,  D.  D.,  recommended  for  adoption  the  following  greeting  to 
foreign  missionaries,  which  was  adopted: 


RESOLUTIONS  115 

The  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation  in  session  in  New 
Yorli  City,  November  15-21,  1905:— 

To  the  Missionaries  of  all  the  Bodies  constituting  this  Confer- 
ence: Grace,  mercy,  and  peace  be  multiplied.  We  greet  you  in  the 
common  faith  and  service  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

We  rejoice  in  the  Christian  unity  manifested  on  so  many  foreign 
mission  fields — an  encouragement  and  inspiration  to  us  here,  as  we 
strive  together  for  cooperation  and  unity  in  the  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints. 

We  send  you  our  sympathies  in  your  manifold  and  difficult  labors. 
We  pray  that  you  may  have  abxiudant  success  in  your  various  fields, 
comfort  in  all  your  trials,  and  that  the  joy  of  the  Lord  may  ever  be 
your  strength. 

A  resolution,  presented  by  the  Rev.  Eugene  H.  Pearce,  D.  D., 
Pastor  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  Danville,  Ky., 
and  others,  was  received  and  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee 
with  power. 

The  resolution  was  read  by  the  secretary,  as  follows : 

Resolved,  (1)  That  in  order  to  the  wider  circulation  of  the 
proceedings  of  this  body,  in  addition  to  the  publication  of  the  single 
volume  heretofore  authorized,  it  is  hereby  respectfully  recommended 
that  the  Plan  of  Federation  as  adopted  by  this  Conference  be  pub- 
lished separately  in  pamphlet  form,  together  with  the  names  of  the 
Churches  represented  in  such  Federation,  with  the  names  of  the 
regular  and  reserved  delegates  appointed  thereto,  the  postoffice  ad- 
dresses of  such  delegates  and  their  Church  relations. 

(2)  That  this  pamphlet  literature  is  earnestly  commended  for  cir- 
culation among  the  ministry  and  membership  constituting  the  Churches 
of  this  Federation. 

(3)  That  the  Executive  Committee  be  requested  to  provide  for  the 
publication  of  said  pamphlet  at  the  lowest  practicable  cost. 

In  the  absence  of  the  chairman  of  the  afternoon,  on  motion  of 
Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  the  Permanent  Chairman  was  chosen  to 
preside. 

The  general  subject,  "The  Kingdom  of  God  the  Transcendent 
Aim  of  a  United  Church,"  was  treated  in  the  following  addresses. 
After  the  singing  of  the  hymn,  ''The  Church's  One  Foundation," 
the  Rev.  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  gave  an  address  on 
*'The  Ideal  State."     (See  page  587.) 

"The  Ideal  Church"  was  the  subject  of  an  address  by  the  Right 
Rev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop-Coadjutor  of  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Diocese  of  New  York.     (See  page  597.) 

The  hymn,  "Blest  Be  the  Tie  That  Binds,"  was  sung. 


116  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  following  resolution,  presented  as  a  part  of  the  final  report 
of  the  Business  Committee,  through  its  secretary.  Dr.  Lord,  was 
adopted : 

In  view  of  the  need  of  more  systematic  education  in  religion,  we 
recommend  for  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  public  authorities 
of  the  country  the  proposal  to  allow  the  children  to  absent  themselves 
without  detriment  from  the  public  schools  on  Wednesday  or  on  some 
other  afternoon  of  the  school  week  for  the  purpose  of  attending  re- 
ligious instruction  In  their  own  Churches;  and  we  urge  upon  the 
Churches  the  advisability  of  availing  themselves  of  the  opportunity  so 
granted  to  give  such  instruction  in  addition  to  that  given  on  Sunday. 

Resolved,  That  the  further  consideration  of  the  subject  and  corre- 
spondence relating  thereto  be  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee. 

Dr.  Lord  also  presented  for  the  Business  Committee  resolutions 
of  thanks  prepared  by  a  sub-committee,  of  which  the  Eev.  C.  W. 
Smith,  D.  D.,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  was  chairman. 

The  motion  for  their  adoption  was  put  by  Bishop  Hendrix  and 
was  unanimously  carried  by  a  rising  vote.  The  resolutions  were  as 
follows : 

Understanding,  as  we  do  in  some  measure  at  least,  the  vast  amount 
of  time,  labor,  patience  and  wisdom  necessary  to  call  together  and 
arrange  for  the  meetings  of  this  great  Conference,  and,  knowing,  as 
we  assuredly  do,  of  the  cheerfulness  and  skill  with  which  this  work 
has  been  done  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  National  Federation 
of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers,  we  hereby  express  to  its  members 
our  most  sincere  thanks,  and,  in  particular,  to  the  Bey.  William  H. 
Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL,  D.;  the  Rev.  Elias  B.  Sanford,  D.  D.;  the  Rev. 
Frank  Mason  North,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  William  Hayes  Ward,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  who  have  borne  the  chief  burden  of  these  labors. 

And,  further,  our  thanks  are  due,  and  are  hereby  tendered,  to  the 
Hospitality  Committee  for  the  admirable  manner  in  which  they  have 
arranged  for  our  comfort  while  here;  and  to  the  generous  contributors 
to  the  fund  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  Conference;  and  also  to  each 
of  the  other  committees,  all  of  which  have  contributed  to  the  comfort 
and  the  success  of  the  Conference;  to  the  Permanent  Chairman  and 
to  the  chairmen  who  have  served  from  day  to  day;  to  the  Secretary 
and  his  assistants;  to  the  speakers  who  were  not  members  of  this 
body;  to  Hon.  Martin  W.  Littleton,  President  of  the  Borough  of 
Brooklyn,  representing  the  Mayor  of  New  York  City  in  his  absence,  for 
his  admirable  address  of  welcome;  to  the  Postmaster  of  the  City  of 
New  York;  to  the  press  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  to  the  railroads 
for  courtesies  extended,  and  to  all  others  who  have  in  any  way  con- 
tributed to  the  personal  comfort  of  the  members  of  the  Conference 
and  to  the  success  of  its  meetings. 

And,  still  further,  confidently  believing  as  we  do  that  the  good  hand 
of  our  God  has  been  upon  us  and  that  His  Spirit  has  inspired  and  led 


CLOSING  WORDS  117 

in  the  whole  movement,  so  that  we  "have  begun,  continued  and  ended 
in  Him,"  to  the  end  that  His  name  has  been  glorified  and  His  kingdom 
manifestly  set  forward,  we  do  therefore  devoutly  join  in  saying,  "Now, 
unto  Him  be  glory  in  the  Church  by  Christ  Jesus,  throughout  all  the 
ages,  world  without  end.    Amen." 

Brief  addresses  upon  the  general  significance  of  the  Conference 
were  made  by  the  Honorable  Samuel  B.  Capen,  LL.  D.  (Congrega- 
tional), President  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  Boston,  Mass.  (see  page  605)  ;  by  the  Honorable 
M,  Linn  Bruce  (Presbyterian),  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  Albany,  N.  Y.  (see  page  608)  ;  by  W.  C.  Stoever, 
Esq.,  President  of  the  Luther  League  of  America,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.  (see  page  610)  ;  by  the  Honorable  Henry  Kirke  Porter  (Bap- 
tist), Member  of  Congress,  Pittsburg,  Pa.  (see  page  609),  and  by 
the  Rev,  John  J.  Tigert,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  Nashville,  Tenn.  (see  page  611). 

The  Chairman,  Dr.  Roberts,  said: 

"Christian  brethren,  permit  me,  as  your  Permanent  Chairman, 
a  word  or  two,  as  the  Conference  draws  towards  its  close. 

"First  of  all,  for  the  chairmen  of  the  several  sessions  and  for 
myself  as  Permanent  Chairman,  acknowledgment  is  heartily 
made  of  the  kindly  sympathy  and  fraternal  cooperation  which 
has  sustained  us  in  the  successful  management  of  this  great  Con- 
ference. Without  this  assistance  success  could  not  have  been  so 
complete  as  it  has  been.  Let  us  also  exchange  congratulations 
upon  the  harmony  which  has  characterized  all  our  proceedings 
and  the  unanimity  with  which  action  has  been  taken.  Truly,  we 
have  dwelt  together  as  brethren  in  unity. 

"Further,  allow  me  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  this  Conference 
is  a  unique  historic  gathering.  It  is  one  of  the  most  notable 
assemblies  of  believers  ever  held  in  connection  with  the  interests 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  For  centuries  such  an  assembly  has 
been  in  the  hearts  and  prayers  of  the  people  of  God  in  many  lands. 
John  Calvin,  writing  in  1552  to  Archbishop  Cranmer,  of  the 
Church  of  England,  declared  that  he  would  cross  ten  seas  if  neces- 
sary to  bring  the  separated  Churches  of  Christ  into  one.  That 
unity  for  which  both  the  great  Genevan  and  the  great  Anglican 
longed  has  been  the  desire  of  other  great  leaders  ia  succeeding 
centuries.  Such  gatherings  as  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  the  Pan- 
Anglican,  Pan-Methodist  and  Pan-Presbyterian  councils  were  in 


118  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

part  a  realization  of  tliis  longing.  It  remained,  however,  for  the 
twentieth  century  to  give  official  and  wide-spreading  representa- 
tion to  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  This  present  Conference, 
composed  of  the  delegates  of  thirty  national  Churches,  is  repre- 
sentative both  of  America,  Europe  and  Africa,  and  through  the 
missionary  jurisdictions  of  the  several  Churches,  of  the  whole 
world.  Here  sit  together  representatives  of  Churches  which  have 
their  source  in  the  great  national  Churches  of  England,  Scotland, 
Holland,  Germany  and  other  lands.  Here  also  are  delegates  from 
Churches  of  more  recent  origin,  and  in  part  native  to  the  soil  of 
the  Republic.  But  whatever  the  origin  of  our  Churches,  they  are 
to-day,  without  exception,  American  in  character.  Christian  in 
spirit  and  world-wide  in  their  hopes.  As  their  official  representa- 
tives we  have  given  expression  through  a  Plan  of  Federation  to 
their  unity  in  spirit  in  the  hope  that  it  will  develop  into  unity 
in  action.  As  we  rejoice  over  the  results  attained,  let  our  joint 
ascription  of  praise  be,  'Not  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but 
unto  thy  name  give  glory,' 

"In  connection  with  the  work  here  accomplished  I  venture  to 
suggest  three  things: 

"1.  That  we  are  organized  in  antagonism  to  no  body  of  per- 
sons claiming  the  Christian  name.  We  cherish  for  all  the  charity 
described  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  to  tbe 
Corinthians  and  illustrated  in  the  life  of  our  Lord. 

"2.  That  we  are  ready  to  cooperate  as  an  organization  with 
good  men  of  all  creeds  and  races  for  the  moral  uplifting  of  man- 
kind, both  at  home  and  abroad.  Having  in  our  own  ranks  unity 
of  spirit  and  aim,  we  can  heartily  assist  every  good  cause. 

"3.  That  we  recognize  that  the  chief  work  of  the  organization 
we  have  approved  is  to  bring  salvation  from  sin  to  the  lost  race 
of  man  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Divine  Saviour  and  Lord.  This 
is  our  great  work  as  Churches  of  Christ.  For  this  glorious  end 
let  us  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder,  following  Him  who  is  the 
object  of  our  supreme  faith  and  love,  at  once  man  and  God,  the 
only  begotten  Son  of  God,  the  King  immortal,  eternal,  invisible. 
Let  His  Divine  word  of  command  be  heard  by  every  ear,  be 
obeyed  in  every  life.  'Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preacli  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature.' " 


CLOSING  J'RAYER  119 

The  closing  address  was  delivered  by  the  Eev.  John  H.  Vincent, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.     (See  page  612.) 

The  Permanent  Chairman  announced  that  the  closing  event  of 
the  Conference  would  be  the  reception  appointed  for  th6  evening, 
and  that  the  business  of  the  Conference  would  close  with  the  present 


The  hymn,  "I  Love  Thy  Kingdom,  Lord/'  was  sung. 

The  Rev.  J.  Addison  Henry,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Princeton 
Presbyterian  Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  offered  the  closing  prayer 
and  pronounced  the  benediction: 

"0  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  hear  our  prayer.  We  know  that 
Thou  art  here,  and  we  know  that  like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children, 
so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  Him,  for  He  knoweth  our  frame 
and  He  remembereth  that  we  are  dust.  God  is  here,  God  the 
Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  it  may  be  that  unseen 
intelligences  are  taking  knowledge  of  us.  Wherefore,  seeing  we 
are  compassed  about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  help  us  to 
lay  aside  every  weight  and  the  sin  that  does  sc  easily  beset  us  and 
enable  us  to  run  with  patience  the  race  set  before  us,  looking  unto 
Jesus,  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith,  who  for  the  joy  that 
was  set  before  Him  endured  the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is 
set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God. 

"We  thank  Thee  that  we  have  met  here  for  these  conferences. 
We  thank  Thee  for  the  beautiful  weather  that  we  have  had.  We 
thank  Thee  for  the  unanimity  of  Thy  people.  We  have  taken  one 
another  by  the  hand,  we  have  looked  into  one  another's  faces,  and  we 
have  found  that  we  are  very  much  like  to  one  another.  We  pray 
that  we  may  be  impressed  by  the  truths  that  M'e  have  listened  to  in 
this  Conference,  and  that  we  may  go  to  our  homes  with  a  fuller 
determination  to  promote  the  imity  of  our  beloved  Church.  We 
buml)ly  beseech  Thee  that  we  may  now  show  charity  at  home  for 
the  different  bodies  of  Thy  servants,  as  well  as  charity  and  love  here. 

"Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  we  pray  that  Thou  wilt  be  with 
us,  go  with  us,  and  protect  us,  and  return  us  to  our  homes  in  safety. 

"We  thank  Thee  that  Thou  didst  give  us  these  men  who  have 
conducted  these  exercises;  they  have  done  their  work  so  faithfully 
and  constantly  and  have  done  it  so  well.  Eeward  them  for  their 
labors  of  love,  and  we  pray  that  they  may  feel  that  these  arc  the 
greatest  works  that  they  can  possibly  be  engaged  in,  in  bringing 
God's  people  nearer  to  one  another  and  honoring  our  Divine  Master. 


120  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

"Almighty  and  everlasting  God,  we  pray  that  Thou  wilt  be  with 
us  all.  Kemember  Thy  servant,  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  all  who  are  in  authority  in  this  great  Nation.  Give  wisdom 
unto  them.  Deliver  us  from  corrupt  men  in  high  places,  from  men 
who  are  seeking  only  their  own  selfish  emolument  rather  than  the 
glory  of  God.  Deliver  us,  0  God,  from  such  pests  in  the  Nation, 
and  we  humbly  pray  that  Thy  kingdom  may  come  and  Thy  will 
may  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  0  satisfy  us  early  with  Thy 
mercy,  that  we  may  rejoice  and  be  glad  all  our  days.  Make  us  glad 
according  to  the  days  wherein  Thou  hast  afflicted  us,  and  the  years 
wherein  we  have  seen  evil.  Let  Thy  work  appear  unto  Thy  ser- 
vants and  Thy  glory  unto  their  children,  and  let  the  beauty  of  the 
Lord  our  God  be  upon  us,  and  establish  Thou  the  work  of  our  hands 
upon  us ;  yea,  the  work  of  our  hands  establish  Thou  it. 

••"And  to  Thee,  glorious  Saviour,  shall  be  the  praise,  who  hast 
taught  us  to  pray,  saying :  Our  Father,  which  art  in  heaven.  Hal- 
lowed be  Thy  name,  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth. 
As  it  is  in  heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread.  And  forgive 
us  our  trespasses.  As  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us.  And 
lead  us  not  into  temptation ;  But  deliver  us  from  evil ;  For  Thine  is 
the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen. 
"And  now  may  the  grace  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ, 
the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  abide  -with 
you  forever.     Amen." 


TUESDAY  EVENING,  NOVEMBER  TWENTY-FIRST. 

Reception  to  the  Conference. 

The  closing  event  of  the  Conference  was  a  reception  given  to 
the  delegates,  at  the  Hotel  Waldorf-Astoria,  by  the  following  de- 
nominational Social  Unions  and  Church  Clubs  of  the  City:  The 
Baptist  Social  Union,  the  Congregational  Clubs  of  New  York  and 
Brooklyn,  the  Church  Club,  the  Disciples'  Union,  the  Methodist 
Social  Union,  the  Presbyterian  Union  and  the  Reformed  Church 
Urrton. 

The  Honorable  M.  Linn  Bruce,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  presided  over  the  formal  exercises.  The  invo- 
cation was  offered  by  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Roberts,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.     The 


RECEPTION  TO   THE   CONFERENCE  121 

Rev.  Henry  A.  Stimson,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Manhattan  Congrega- 
tional Church,  New  York,  read  the  One-hundred-and-thirty-third 
Psalm. 

After  a  brief  address  by  the  chairman,  the  Eev.  Donald  Sage 
Mackay,  Pastor  of  the  Collegiate  Church  (Reformed  Church  in 
America),  New  York,  extended  the  welcome  of  the  Unions  to  the 
Conference  (see  page  625) ;  and  response  was  made  on  behalf  of 
the  delegates  by  the  Rev.  Kerr  Boyce  Tupper,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Pastor 
of  the  Madison  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  New  York  (see  page  630). 
At  the  conclusion  of  these  exercises  the  chainnan,  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Bruce,  said : 

"I  am  informed  that  the  pronouncing  of  the  benediction  by 
Bishop  Greer  will  be  the  closing  act  of  the  Conference — this  Con- 
ference which  I  believe  is  to  mark  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 
Christian  Church.  The  denominations  to  which  we  belong  can 
never  be  quite  the  same  as  they  have  been  heretofore.  We  have 
taken  the  stand;  we  cannot  remain  still.  It  is  impossible  that  we 
should  go  backward ;  we  owe  it  to  ourselves,  we  owe  it  to  the  boys 
and  girls,  we  owe  it  to  the  generations  yet  unborn — yes,  we  owe  it 
to  God  Himself— that  this  movement  go  forward,  that  the  time  be 
hastened  when  the  watchmen  on  Zion's  wall  shall  see  eye  to  eye 
and  with  a  voice  together  sing,  when  Christians  everywhere  shall 
go  forward  with  but  one  purpose  and  one  thought  and  one  hope; 
and  I  know  that  we  close  this  Conference  looking  forward  to  the 
great  Federal  Council  in  1908." 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  the  Right  Rev.  David  H. 
Greer,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Bishop  Coadjutor  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Diocese  of  New  York  : 

"The  God  of  peace,  who  brought  again  from  the  dead  our 
liord  Jesus  Christ,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  through  the 
blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  make  you  perfect  in  every  good 
work  to  do  His  will,  working  in  you  that  which  is  well  pleasing  in 
His  sight,  through  Jesus  Christ,  to  whom  be  the  glory  for  ever  and 
ever.     Amen." 


ADDRESSES    OF  WELCOME 


AN  ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME    BY  THE  PRESIDENT 

OF  THE  NATIONAL  FEDERATION   OF 

CHURCHES  AND  CHRISTIAN 

WORKERS 


J,  Cleveland  Cady,  LL.D. 


Commissioners,  Brethren,  Friends: 

It  is  with  great  pleasure  we  extend  welcome  greetings  to  you 
all  on  the  opening  of  this  Conference,  an  event  longed  for,  hoped 
for,  and  finally  looked  forward  to  as  marking  a  signal  advance  in 
the  progress  and  usefulness  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

At  length  the  notable  day  has  come  when  from  all  parts  of  our 
country,  North,  South,  East  and  West,  representatives  of  various 
Churches  meet  together,  "all  of  one  accord  in  one  place,"  giving 
expression  of  their  united  loyalty  to  the  Master,  strengthening  the 
bonds  of  Christian  fellowship  and  service,  and  waiting  upon  Him 
to  understand  more  clearly  His  will  concerning  them. 

How  plainly  we  can  see  the  way  in  which  He  has  prepared  His 
people  step  by  step  for  this  larger  movement ! 

Nearly  thirty  years  ago  New  York  was  the  scene  of  a  great  con- 
ference— that  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance — with  Wm.  E.  Dodge  as 
its  honored  president. 

Its  influence  was  strongly  felt,  and  led  soon  after  to  plans  of  co- 
operative service  in  many  of  the  large  towns  and  cities.  Those, 
however,  were  days  of  deep-rooted  prejudices,  and  the  movement 
made  slow  progress  until  nearly  sixteen  years  later,  when  a  step  was 
taken  in  the  State  of  Maine  of  such  a  radical  character  as  to  be  of 
momentous  interest  and  influence.  The  leading  denominational 
bodies  of  the  State  appointed  representatives,  who,  coming  together, 
organized  an  interdenominational  commission,  having  three  ex- 
tremely sane  and  practical  objects: 

To   promote    cooperation   in   the   organization    and    maintenance    of 

Churches  in  Maine  j 

To  prevent  waste  of  resources  and  eflForts  in  the  smaller  towns,  and, 
Stimulate  missionary  work  in  the  destitute  regions. 

125 


126  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

This  positive  programme,  tactfnlh^  but  efficiently  carried  out, 
proved  not  only  a  great  blessing  to  the  State  of  Maine,  but  was  an 
object  lesson  for  Christian  bodies  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

Meantime  thoughtful  men  in  this  city  began  to  feel  deeply  the 
desirability  of  a  careful  study  of  its  populations,  that  their  char- 
acter and  needs  might  be  understood,  and  so  churches  planted 
where  they  were  needed,  and  the  heedless  folly  that  had  too  often 
characterized  locating  them  be  avoided.  This  led  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  in  New 
York  City. 

At  length  it  begins  to  be  realized  that  there  is  great  power  in 
the  united  Churches!  Hartford,  which  had  been  struggling  with 
serious  social  evils,  finds  relief  by  the  concerted  action  of  nearly  all 
her  religious  bodies — united  they  seem  irresistible ;  it  is  inspiring — 
and  everywhere  people  are  thinking! 

Among  the  thinkers  were  a  few  earnest  men  in  New  York 
City,  who  had  watched  these  movements  with  interest,  but  whose 
eyes  were  beginning  to  open  to  a  broader  vision — no  less  than  of 
the  adoption  of  the  principle  of  cooperation  by  the  Christian 
Churches  throughout  the  country! 

Foremost  among  these  was  the  Eev.  Dr.  E.  B.  Sanford,  who 
was  so  far  in  advance  of  others  that  he  seemed  almost  visionary 
at  the  time.  His  views,  however,  were  the  result  of  sound  thought 
and  wide  experience,  and  it  was  not  long  before  quite  a  number 
of  men  of  influence,  convinced  both  of  the  need  and  hopefulness 
of  the  movement,  joined  him  in  a  campaign  to  attain  the  desired 
result. 

For  a  while  they  stood  almost  alone,  the  times  not  being  ripe  for 
so  radical  a  step ;  but  they  saw  the  promises  afar  off  "and  were  per- 
suaded of  them,"  and,  organizing  the  "National  Federation  of 
Churches  and  Christian  Workers,"  pressed  forward  through  the 
early  years  of  struggle  and  discouragement,  until  at  length  the  prin- 
ciple gained  welcome  and  wide  acceptance.  I  hardly  need  recount 
to  you  how  this  national  organization  brought  together  the  Churches 
in  many  cities  for  united  work;  and  later  in  many  States  formed 
their  local  bodies  into  State  organizations  for  more  effective  and 
harmonious  effort,  yet  they  were  all  free  to  follow  whatever  lines 
they  chose. 

Albany  and  Syracuse  made  thorough  canvasses  of  their  cities, 
Christian  people,  regardless  of  creeds,  entering  upon  the  work  of 
house  to  house  visitation,  ascertaining  the  religioue  interests  and 


ADDRESSES     OF     WELCOME  127 

preferences  of  the  people  and  reporting  the  same  to  the  Churches  in 
each  district.   It  was  indeed  an  inspiring  and  successful  work ! 

Other  bodies  divided  their  cities  into  parishes,  each  Church  tak- 
ing a  certain  field  and  becoming  responsible  for  its  thorough  care. 

In  yet  other  communities  the  united  Churches  sought  simply 
ethical  ends — the  overthrow  of  gambling,  intemperance,  foul  litera- 
ture, prison  abuses,  etc.,  etc. — with  general  and  often  surprising 
success;  and  in  all  this  they  were  doing  an  important  service  not 
realized  at  the  time :  They  were  giving  the  Christian  world  a  strik- 
ing object  lesson  of  the  great  ends  that  may  be  accomplished  when 
the  forces  of  rigliteousness  unite  their  strength. 

Another  delightful  result  of  this  cooperation  was  the  steady 
growth  in  mutual  respect  and  affection  of  those  engaging  in  it  re- 
gardless of  their  denominational  affiliations.  Moreover,  the  influ- 
ence and  spirit  of  this  work  was  felt  in  many  smaller  communities 
not  reached  by  organizations,  but  in  which  the  idea,  finding  lodge- 
ment, developed  in  its  own  way. 

A  touching  instance  of  this  occurred  in  an  old  New  England 
town  where  there  were  two  churches  which  had  always  kept  jealously 
apart  and  cherished  no  kindly  feelings  for  each  other.  As  the  years 
passed  religious  life  seemed  dead,  and  more  and  more  the  people  of 
the  town  withdrew  from  the  churches.  At  length  the  minister  of 
the  larger  church — "The  Church  upon  the  Green"— began  to  be 
deeply  disturbed  at  the  religious  paralysis,  and,  reading  in  the  paper 
one  day  of  the  happy  r^ults  of  a  united  work  in  a  distant  place, 
saw  a  new  light  burst  upon  his  problem.  Seeking  the  minister  of 
the  smaller  church,  he  opened  his  heart,  told  of  his  discouragement, 
longings,  and  finally  his  desire  in  everything  to  work  with  him  for 
the  revival  of  religious  interest  and  life  in  the  town. 

From  that  time  these  two  ministers  worked  as  brothers  for  the 
spiritual  good  of  the  place;  the  church  officers  caught  their  spirit, 
and  at  length  all  the  religious  life  of  the  town  was  concentrated  on 
the  work  to  be  done  about  them !  The  result  was  a  powerful  awak- 
ening of  the  community,  and  when,  weeks  later,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  stood  up  to  confess  Christ  in  these  two  churches  it  was  a  time 
of  great  rejoicing.  It  was  still  more  so  on  the  afternoon  of  that  day, 
when  the  two  churches  with  their  new  members  united  in  celebrat- 
ing the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  larger  church — "The  Church  upon 
the  Green."  The  old  house  was  packed  to  the  doors,  and  as  the 
emblems  of  the  Master's  sacrifice  were  partaken  of  there  were  few 
that  could  refrain  from  weeping ! 


128  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Such  a  veritable  love  feast  had  never  before  been  known  in  the 
town !  It  was  clear  that  in  this  case  the  union  of  God's  people  in 
His  service  brought  the  presence  of  His  spirit  and  blessing. 

I  have  outlined  briefly  the  history  of  fourteen  years  of  Church 
Federation  in  this  country.    What  is  to  be  its  future? 

Thoughtful  men  who  have  anxiously  considered  this  question 
have  seen  very  clearly  that  its  permanence  and  highest  results  would 
be  secured  only  when  it  became  a  Federation — ^not  of  volunteer  and 
ephemeral  workers,  but  of  the  great  denominations  and  Churches 
themselves.  These  Churches,  differing  as  they  may  in  form  and 
procedure,  will  then  be  united  in  service  and  spirit,  which  is  after 
all  the  only  thing  that  greatly  moves  or  blesses  the  world !  It  is  the 
deep  and  widespread  hope  of  this  that  has  brought  together  this 
great  Conference  of  the  representatives  of  twenty-eight  denomina- 
tions having  seventeen  millions  of  communicants ! 

It  is  to  be  said,  moreover,  that  this  movement  has  been  intensi- 
fied by  the  sentiment  of  the  times;  organizations  to  avoid  waste 
and  increase  efficiency  obtain  in  every  direction,  and  surely  these 
objects  are  as  valuable  in  Christian  work  as  elsewhere.  So  it  has 
happened  that  strong  expressions  have  come  from  all  directions, 
calling  for  the  grasp  of  fellowship.  The  Christian  people  of  the 
land  have  raised  their  voices  for  it;  business  men  have  demanded 
it;  ministers  and  missionaries  have  pleaded  for  it;  until  to-day  we 
stand  on  the  threshold  of  what  it  is  greatly  hoped  wiU  be  the  begin- 
ning of  an  era  of  brotherly  cooperation,  and  of  a  united  effort  for 
righteousness,  in  which  the  Church  of  God  will  put  forth  its  mighty 
strength. 

Three  years  ago  when  the  National  Federation  held  its  annual 
conference  in  Washington  they  were  invited  by  President  Roosevelt 
to  call  upon  him  at  the  White  House. 

The  large  delegation  from  different  sections  of  our  country  met 
with  a  most  hearty  welcome.  His  first  exclamation  as  the  men 
gathered  around  him  was : 

"Well,  there  are  a-plenty  of  targets  for  us  all  to  shoot  at  with- 
out shooting  at  each  other." 

Doubtless  the  sight  of  Episcopalians,  Methodists,  Baptists,  Pres- 
byterians, Congregationalists,  Lutherans,  Reformed,  and  church- 
men of  many  other  faiths  in  such  a  harmonious  gathering  inspired 
this  very  hearty  and  striking  greeting.  The  expression  took  the 
public  fancy,  and,  being  repeated  far  and  wide,  made  a  greater 
impression  than  the  weightiest  arfrument! 


REV.    ALBERT     C.     LAWSOX,     D.D.  REV.    J.    M.    IIIBBERT,    D.D. 


REV.    WALLACE    MacMULLEN,    D.D.  REV.    RIVIXGTOX    D.     LORD,     D.D. 


ADDRESSES     OF     WELCOME  129 

Nothing  would  have  gratified  his  broad  and  generous  nature 
more  than  to  have  been  present  with  us  this  evening,  and  have 
bidden  Godspeed  to  this  great  body  of  "shooters,"  but  public  duties 
prevented.  He  has,  however,  sent  a  letter  heartily  in  sympathy 
with  our  aims  and  wise  in  practical  suggestion  for  future  work. 

It  remains  for  me,  on  behalf  of  the  National  Federation  of 
Churches,  the  Executive  Committee,  and  all  engaged  in  the  prepar- 
ations for  this  Conference,  to  bid  you  a  most  hearty  welcome. 


ADDRESS     OF    WELCOME     IN     BEHALF    OF    THE 
CITY    OF    NEW    YORK 


The   Hon.  Martin  W.  Littleton 


Mr.  Chairman:  I  am  a  willing  but  poor  substitute  for  Mayor 
George  B.  MeClellan,  and  as  such  I  come  to  translate  the  cordial 
spirit  of  this  generous  city  into  a  hearty  welcome. 

Little  ought  to  be  said  by  those  who  welcome  others.  I  sup- 
pose that  it  is  proper  for  me  to  say,  however,  that  when  they 
want  the  religious  influence  of  this  country  welcomed  to  New 
York  City  they  always  have  to  go  to  Brooklyn  to  get  it  properly 
welcomed,  for  that  is  the  land  of  the  great  churches,  the  great 
memories,  the  splendid  preachers,  wonderful  edifices  and  an  abid- 
ing spirit.  I  think,  too,  perhaps  another  thing  might  be  said  by 
me  in  welcoming  you,  and  that  is,  there  is  a  close  kinship  between 
those  who  hold  public  office  and  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  That 
kinship  is  not,  permit  me  to  say  in  haste  that  you  may  not  be 
alarmed,  due  to  the  respective  conduct  or  the  relation  or  resem- 
blance of  the  conduct  of  the  minister  and  the  man  who  holds  the 
public  office.  You  may  take  this  to  yourself,  or  you  may  give  it 
to  me,  just  as  you  like.  The  resemblance  is  in  two  things — they 
are  each  designed  to  serve  others,  and  they  generally  do  it  for 
nothing.  The  public  officer  draws  just  enough  salary  to  corrupt  a 
weak  man  and  humiliate  a  strong  man,  and  the  minister  is  con- 
stantly turning  to  that  portion  of  the  Bible  which  speaks  about 
the  evidence  of  things  hoped  for,  the  substance  of  things  not  seen. 


130  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

You  are  essentially  the  keepers  of  the  ideals  of  this  country, 
and  to  you  and  your  labors  is  committed  in  tender  care  the  preser- 
vation, in  storm  and  in  sunshine,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  of 
the  moral  and  religious  ideals  of  the  republic.  To  those  who  serve 
in  civic  public  life  is,  or  ought  to  be,  committed,  and  expected  of 
them,  the  preservation  of  the  civic  ideals  of  this  republic;  and  of 
all  the  classes  in  the  universe  who  are  committed  and  destined  and 
commissioned  to  a  great  service,  those  two  classes  represent  the 
poorest  paid  and  the  most  miserably  rewarded  of  all  the  creatures 
that  live  upon  the  face  of  the  earth;  and  I  have  this  much  to  say 
that  is  personal,  because  I  am  not  running  for  office  this  year. 

This  Conference,  and  all  such  things  as  this  Conference — I 
mean  such  manifestations  of  public  spirit,  of  unification  or  of  har- 
mony— but  represent  the  tendencies  which  have  been  in  evidence 
for  the  last  hundred  years.  The  nineteenth  century  swept  in. 
through  the  fury  and  the  flame  of  a  revolution,  a  fury  that  sprang 
from  hearts  afire  with  a  love  for  liberty,  a  flame  that  was  kindled 
by  the  torch  held  high  by  reason.  Thrones  that  for  ages  had  cast 
their  shadow  across  the  conscience  of  the  world  reeled  and  fell 
under  this  revolution  of  reason.  Empires  that  were  weighed  down 
with  wickedness  and  surviving  upon  fallacy  and  force  went  down 
under  the  impact  of  ideas.  Kingdoms  that  were  wrought  out  of 
wrong  and  fairly  built  up  with  blood,  sustained  by  superstition, 
defying  God  and  degrading  man,  dissolved  and  disappeared  under 
the  fierce  fires  of  the  world's  enkindling  genius.  Courts  that  were 
corrupt  and  cruel,  indolent  and  ignorant,  skulked  into  the  shadows 
behind  the  crown;  and  the  crown  that  was  imposing  and  impu- 
dent, brilliant  and  blasphemous,  uniting  superstition  with  the 
most  incorrigible  infamy,  rested  uneasily  on  the  titled  tyrants  of 
the  times  a  hundred  years  ago.  The  Church,  sombre  and  synco- 
patic,  made  up  of  darkness  and  ceremonial,  was  torn  from  the 
breast  of  the  ruler  and  made  to  walk  by  force.  And  then  the 
nations  came  in  great  succession  to  undergo  this  travelling  pro- 
cession of  events.  France  writhed  and  groaned  in  the  whirl  and 
tumult  of  internal  war;  she  writhed  and  groaned  and  bled  and 
finally  triumphed.  England,  held  back  by  a  sort  of  aristocracy, 
was  made  to  drink  deep  of  the  spirit  of  the  hour,  held  to  her  cold 
and  unwUling  lips  by  the  hand  of  her  unwilling  children.  Then 
the  nations  followed  still  in  order.  Germany  was  divided  into 
petty  principalities,  disputing,  and  yet  there  she  set  in  operation 
those  silent  principles  which  have  waged  relentless  warfare  with 


ADDRESSES     OF     WELCOME  131 

heresy  and  wrong.  Here  to  the  southwest  Mexico  was  drunk,  stag- 
gering with  the  degradation  of  her  time,  and  yet  she  worked  and 
fought  for  fifty  years  until  she  caught  the  inspiration  of  the  cen- 
tury and  reared  the  great  republic  over  there.  China  sat  like  a 
world  of  immobile  statues,  having  no  reform  from  within  and  re- 
ceiving no  light  from  without.  And  finally,  in  the  little  island 
that  gems  the  sea,  after  thirty  years  of  instruction  and  fighting 
battles  in  the  hearts  of  her  people,  little  Japan  aroused  herself 
and  shook  herself  and  threw  off  the  lethargy  of  her  environment, 
waged  a  war,  and  she  became  the  teacher  of  Asia.  And  then  out 
of  all  of  this,  and  moving  and  carrying  it  on  and  making  the  waves 
go  to  the  farthest  shores,  these  United  States,  conceived  in  the 
glorious  genius  of  a  righteous  revolution,  the  joint  product  of  the 
Puritan  and  the  Cavalier,  sprang  into  the  arena  of  the  world's 
conflict,  and  the  reach  and  range  of  its  influence  has  touched  and 
quickened  the  conscience  of  the  universe,  until  to-day  everywhere 
the  thrones  that  rest  upon  the  backs  of  slaves  are  rocking,  and 
empires  that  are  weighing  down  the  consciences  and  souls  and 
judgments  of  men  are  splitting  to  their  foundations.  Eussia  is 
working  within;  Japan  is  teaching  all  her  country  everywhere 
light  and  liberty  and  peace,  and  the  exercise  of  conscience  and 
judgment  is  becoming  the  common  attributes  of  man,  so  that  to- 
day when  this  great  Conference  meets  it  is  but  another  manifesta- 
tion of  these  insistent  forces  that  are  circling  the  earth  with  a 
circle  of  fire. 

Whether  it  be  to-day  in  the  hot  contest  of  municipal  politics, 
whether  it  be  in  the  revelation  of  the  rotten  business  standards 
of  the  country,  whether  it  be  in  a  contest  in  some  Western  State 
of  politics,  whether  it  be  in  a  great  ecumenical  conference, 
whether  it  be  in  a  great  religious  Conference  like  this — all  of  these 
things  but  tell  the  truth,  that  the  conscience,  the  soul,  the  judg- 
ment, the  spirit  of  men  is  working  profoundly  for  the  betterment 
and  the  permanent  establishment  of  the  human  race. 

I  have  the  utmost  faith  in  all  this  great  country.  Somebody 
says,  What  will  we  do  with  all  this  great  revelation  here?  The 
business  standards  are  gone;  politics  is  not  pure.  What  will  we 
do  ?  Why,  when  a  great  giant  takes  sick  and  there  is  no  organic 
trouble,  if  there  is  nausea  for  a  time,  if  there  is  dizziness  for  a 
time,  if  he  wishes  to  lie  down  and  stretch  himself  and  say  he  is 
tired  and  wants  rest,  do  you  call  m  everybody  and  say  the  giant 
is  dead?    What  you  do  is  to  give  him  but  a  little  peace,  a  little 


132  CHURCn    FEDERATION 

time,  and  he  comes  back  stronger  a  thousand  times  than  he  was 
before.  This  republic  is  a  giant.  It  is  not  sick;  these  things  we 
fear  around  here  are  but  ailments,  and  we  are  cutting  them  out 
root  and  branch,  and  we  will  continue  to  cut  them  out  as  long  as 
the  red  blood  runs  in  American  veins !  I  have  an  abiding  faith  in 
the  fact  that  there  are  not  enough  people  in  this  country  to  de- 
stroy it  if  they  tried,  because  out  of  the  ashes  and  the  ruin  that 
they  would  bring  would  spring  a  mightier  race  and  a  mightier  na- 
tion, that  would  make  it  a  still  greater  country.  The  Constitution 
is  in  the  hearts  of  men;  it  does  not  have  to  be  written  in  books. 
The  Declaration  is  in  the  souls  of  men;  it  does  not  have  to  be 
proclaimed  every  morning.  Patriotism  is  under  every  ragged 
breast,  and  there  is  an  arsenal  there  that  is  ready  to  spring  to  the 
country's  defence ;  they  do  not  have  to  ask  for  it.  Therefore,  I  say 
this  is  but  another  great  manifestation  of  the  fact  that  in  the  great 
crises  of  this  country  party  appeal  is  lost  in  patriotism,  and  denomi- 
nation is  lost  in  the  call  for  duty. 

I  remember  a  beautiful  flag  picture  I  saw  in  Washington.  It 
was  a  simple  little  thing  in  a  dirty  window  on  the  street.  Away 
ojff  on  a  tropical  island  the  scene  seemed  to  be.  The  waters  were 
still  and  sultry  and  the  weather  seemed  hot,  as  the  picture  showed 
it.  The  sun  had  gone  down,  and  all  the  splendid  sky  of  the  west 
was  suffused  with  beautiful  light.  And  standing  there,  with  a 
khaki  uniform  on,  was  a  lonely  soldier  looking  out  on  the  sad  and 
solemn  sea.  And  as  he  continues  to  watch  and  as  you  look  at  the 
picture,  you  see,  drawn  in  outline  in  the  sky,  a  streak  of  red  and 
a  streak  of  white,  a  cloud  of  fleece  that  is  thrown  in  flakes  across 
the  blue,  and  the  blue  has  been  suffused  with  the  red,  and  then 
back  of  them,  sprinkled  there  and  sparkling,  the  stars  came  out, 
and  there,  incarnate  in  the  sky,  written  by  the  fingers  of  the  Al- 
mighty and  painted  as  with  the  delicate  colors  of  the  sunset,  was 
Old  Glory  in  the  western  sky  in  the  distance,  an  inspiration  to 
make  us  say  that  it  cannot  be  destroyed,  an  inspiration  to  make  us 
say  that  this  call  here  for  you  is  but  one  of  the  great  processions 
that  are  marching  on  to  make  our  country  better,  to  make  our 
people  better;  an  inspiration  to  make  us  say  the  old  flag  will  be 
preserved,  for  its  red  ran  out  of  a  soldier's  heart,  its  white  was 
bleached  by  a  nation's  tears  and  its  stars  were  hung  there  to  swing 
together  until  the  eternal  morning  when  all  the  world  shall  be 
free.   I  welcome  you  and  I  thank  you. 


AN  ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME  FOR  THE  EXECUTIVE 
COMMITTEE    OF    THE    NATIONAL    FED- 
ERATION   OF    CHURCHES  AND 
CHRISTIAN  WORKERS 


The  Rev.  Charles  L.  Thompson,  D.D. 


It  has  been  given  me  to  welcome  you  on  behalf  of  the  Na- 
tional Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers.  This  Fed- 
eration has  no  long  history.     Let  me  recall  it  to  your  memory. 

A  dozen  years  ago  there  was  organized  in  this  city  an  Institu- 
tional and  Open  Church  League,  the  aim  of  which  was  to  secure 
from  Churches  interested  a  larger  and  more  comprehensive  service 
for  the  community.  In  the  words  of  its  constitution  it  "sought 
to  save  all  men  and  all  of  the  man  by  all  means."  Later  it  came 
into  affiliation,  by  a  joint  committee,  with  the  Federation  of 
Churches  in  this  city  which  was  organized  in  1895,  and  had  al- 
ready become  a  power  in  the  religious  life  of  the  metropolis. 

From  this  double  root  the  National  Federation  sprang,  first 
as  a  committee  and  later  as  a  voluntary  organization.  Its  aim 
was  to  secure  cooperation  among  Churches  and  Christian  work- 
ers for  the  more  effective  promotion  of  the  interests  of  the  King- 
dom of  God,  and  to  do  this  by  the  application  of  federative 
methods  to  States,  cities,  and  districts.  This  to  a  considerable 
extent  has  been  done.  Many  State  organizations  have  been 
formed,  and  in  multitudes  of  places  there  has  been  local  applica- 
tion of  the  principles  and  methods  for  which  Federation  stands. 

But  while  this  organization  is  new  it  represents  a  long  and 
slow  evolution.  It  is  the  crystallization  of  fluid  tendencies  that 
for  centuries  have  rolled  around  all  Christian  altars.  Only  re- 
cently have  they  come  to  definition,  but  they  have  ever  haunted 
the  thoughts  of  Christian  thinkers  as  the  music  of  the  sea  haunts 
the  sea  shell.  Indeed,  the  first  throb  of  them  was  felt  when  the 
Master  prayed  that  His  disciples  might  be  one.  He  expected 
them  to  be  one.  The  ChurOli  has  gone  on  in  her  divisive  ways, 
but  ever  as  she  divided  she  has  still  kept  on  singing  and  praying 
that  "They  all  may  be  one."' 

This  vivific  prayer  she  has  kept  on  her  banners  even  when 
those  banners  signaled  hostility  and  persecution.  She  has  never 
quite  failed  to  feel  the  drawing  of  such  a  star.    But  other  draw- 

133 


134  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

ings  were  stronger — lower  lights  pulled  harder.  And  the  Church 
Christ  died  for  has  become  Churches  of  names  almost  without 
number.  It  were  discouraging  if  we  thought  only  of  the  cata- 
logue of  denominations.  A  view  deeper  than  that  of  names  dis- 
closes more  hopeful  signs.  A  philosophy  of  Christian  unity  may 
be  discerned  beneath  the  divisions,  as  the  unity  of  the  ocean  is 
under  the  separate  and  contending  billows.  And  a  process  of  unity 
is  working  with  the  process  of  the  suns.  It  is  the  heart-beat  of 
Christ's  last  prayer  refusing  to  be  silenced  even  amid  the  clashes 
of  Christian  armor. 

One  does  not  require  more  than  a  century  of  time  to  note 
at  least  four  distinct  and  definite  steps  in  this  counteraction  of 
the  centrifugal  that  has  driven  God's  people  apart — in  this  ap- 
proach to  the  Saviour^s  expectation.  A  hundred  years  ago  opin- 
ions were  often  mistaken  for  conscience,  and  those  who  should 
line  up  as  soldiers — arm  to  arm  and  step  with  step — were  often 
in  hostile  camps — apparently  more  given  to  mutual  suspicions 
and  oppositions  than  to  defeating  a  common  foe.  That  was  the 
day  of  theological  wars  which,  continuing  well  into  the  middle 
of  the  century,  broke  up  more  than  one  Christian  body. 

Following  those  days  of  active  oppositions,  when  theological 
weapons  were  turned  on  brethren  and  when  civil  courts  were 
invoked  to  put  legal  hands  on  contending  parties,  came  a  some- 
what better  day.  Indifference  took  the  place  of  hostility. 
Churches  no  longer  fought  each  other.  They  only  passed  by  on 
the  other  side.  It  was  the  day  of  a  "let  alone"  policy — each  body 
pursuing  its  own  course,  not  openly  hindered  by  any  other  body. 
But  indifference,  if  more  amiable  than  hostility,  may  be  just  as 
deadly;  even  worse — it  may  be  the  sign  of  a  weakness  which  is  twin 
brother  to  death.  Those  who  persecuted  the  saints  might  at  least 
plead  zeal  for  the  Truth  as  the  compelling  motive.  But  indiffer- 
ence can  make  no  plea — but  the  fatal  one  of  caring  for  none  of 
these  things.  Still  outwardly  it  was  respectable.  Churches  folded 
their  robes  about  them  and  went  on  their  separate  ways — at  once 
without  passion  and  without  love. 

Then  gradually — and  it  is  within  the  last  generation — came  a 
further  step.  Churches  began  to  feel  kindly  toward  each  other. 
The  unity  for  which  Christ  prayed  began  to  touch  the  sentiments. 
That  marks  the  rise  of  denominational  comity.  Churches  began 
to  say,  "It  is  wrong  to  hinder — to  jostle — to  crowd.  We  must 
keep  out  of  each  other's  way.    Give  every  one  a  square  deal  and 


ADDRESSES    OF    WELCOME  135 

an  open  chance."  The  process  of  the  suns  is  beginning  to  tell. 
CouncUs  and  conventions  and  assemblies  pass  brotherly  resolu- 
tions— still  brotherly  only  after  the  pattern  of  Abraham  and 
Lot.  If  you  take  the  hill  country  I  will  take  the  plain — choose — 
we  go  our  ways.  So  God's  people  have  talked  kindly  and  sepa- 
rated, that  there  be  no  criticism  and  no  friction.  It  was  peace  se- 
cured by  distance.  And  it  is  worth  something.  It  is  a  great  thing 
for  soldiers  of  different  regiments  to  feel  kindly  and  keep  out  of 
each  other's  way — but  what  army  ever  won  a  fight  on  those  lines ! 
And  with  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  John  in  mind  it  can  scarce  be 
called  ideal — with  the  thought  of  world-conquest  it  cannot  be 
called  final. 

Another  step  in  this  upward  path  is  cooperation.  Behold  a 
signal  advance — progress  from  sentiment  to  action!  The  soldiers 
are  not  only  feeling  kindly — they  will,  in  an  emergency,  help  each 
other.  They  are  separate  regiments.  Most  of  their  fighting  must 
stni  be  on  independent  lines,  but  there  may  come  occasions  when 
they  must  leave  their  own  line  of  march  to  help  an  imperilled 
cause.  They  still  have  their  own  banners  and  they  train  under 
them;  their  own  individual  mission  and  they  must  conserve  it. 
But  at  a  crisis  they  will  put  back  that  mission  that  for  the  nonce 
they  may  mass  forces  for  some  combined  attack. 

In  missions  at  home  and  abroad  and  in  civic  and  social  re- 
forms I  see  this  marshalling  of  a  common  Christianity  and  I  am 
moved  to  cry  out,  "Oh,  Master,  Thou  hast  not  prayed  in  vain!" 
Who,  as  he  regards  the  increasing  prevalence  alike  of  kindly  feel- 
ing and  of  concerted  action,  need  despair  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ? 

But  now  have  we  reached  the  end  ?  Is  there  anything  beyond 
"laissez  faire"  and  comity  and  sporadic  cooperation?  Yes,  one 
step  more — the  last  and  the  best.  It  is  Federation!  that  the 
world  may  believe  that  Christ  is  God  and  that  His  prayer  cannot 
fail!    Hear  the  declared  object  of  Federation: 

"It  shall  be  the  promotion  of  effective  cooperation  among 
Churches  and  Christian  workers  in  order  that  their  essential  unity 
may  be  manifested;  that  the  evangelization  of  every  community 
may  be  more  systematically  accomplished;  that  a  means  may  be 
found  for  expressing  the  united  Christian  sentiment  in  regard  to 
moral  issues;  that  the  various  Christian  and  benevolent  agencies 
of  the  State  may  be  more  completely  coordinated." 

Behold  a  combination  of  forces  for  the  swifter  winning  of  the 


13a  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

fight.  It  suggests  the  solidarity  of  an  army.  Suppose  there  were 
such  union — one  which  would  gather  up,  conserve,  and  project 
every  ounce  of  moral  and  spiritual  power  in  all  the  Churches  for 
effective  campaigning,  not  for  an  emergency  but  for  the  campaign 
—an  essential  expression  of  the  unity  of  the  faith— what  might 
we  not  expect? 

Now  to  realize  this  hope  what  is  needed?  Let  me  say  first, 
it  is  not  primarily  an  organization  like  that  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  represent  to-night.  I  think  it  has  a  mission — that  it 
has  already  done  a  great  work.  But  of  this — as  of  many  other 
extra-Church  organizations — it  should  be  said.  It  is  the  voice  of 
one  crying  in  the  wilderness.  It  is  a  John  the  Baptist  to  herald 
in  its  own  lessening  importance  the  coming  in  majesty  and  power 
of  that  Church  which  incarnates  the  life  and  mission  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

We  have  been  the  agency  for  calling  this  great  Conference. 
But  only  an  agency.  We  have  distinctly  and  steadily  affirmed 
that  to  the  body  of  Christ — represented  in  all  denominations — 
belongs  by  divine  right  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  showing  men 
that  God  has  on  earth  a  kingdom  adapted  and  adequate  to  all 
the  moral  and  spiritual  needs  of  men.  So  I  say  again,  Federation 
as  an  organization  should  step  aside  that  the  Church  of  Christ 
may  step  forward  as  the  expression  of  God's  power  for  the  Chris- 
tianization  of  the  world. 

Suppose  then  Federation  within  the  Church  of  Christ,  suppose 
all  denominations  come  together  in  some  sort  of  a  permanent 
union  for  service — what  is  its  supreme  value?  What  in  the  light 
of  the  world's  thought  and  life  to-day  calls  for  such  Federation? 
For  unless  it  is  to  come  to  the  Kingdom  for  a  time  on  which 
Providence  and  history  put  emphasis,  its  coming  is  not  worth 
while. 

It  is  the  habit  to  lay  stress  on  the  economic  and  socially  dyna- 
mic value  of  Christian  cooperation.  And  it  is  right.  The  waste 
of  power  in  Churches  applying  themselves  individually  to  prob- 
lems— social,  civic,  missionary — is  tremendous.  A  score  of  little 
rills  have  each  far  less  than  one-twentieth  of  the  power  they 
would  have  if  shot  through  a  single  mill  race.  The  business 
world,  even  at  mighty  peril,  is  teaching  the  lesson  of  concentra- 
tion. And  the  value  of  it  is  not  foreign  to  the  history  of  the 
Christian  Church.  Indeed  thus  it  began  its  history.  When  the 
disciples  were  together  the  social  mission  of  the  Church  dawned 


ADDRESSES    OF    WELCOME  137 

upon  them.  Brotherhood  was  commanding.  They  did  not  claim 
their  o^vti — all  things  were  common.  The  product  of  lands  and 
houses  were  laid  at  the  apostles'  feet,  and  distribution  was  made 
to  every  man  as  he  had  need.  A  Federated  Church  would  follow 
that  example.  It  would  recognize  the  solidarity  of  man  and  live 
to  save  him  by  every  salvation  he  needs.  It  would  work  for  in- 
dividuals along  evangelistic  lines.  It  would  work  for  families,  to 
lift  them  to  better  conditions  of  living.  It  would  combine  to 
deliver  society  and  the  State  from  their  manifold  evils  and  perils. 
The  Church  of  Christ  of  every  name  in  every  community,  while 
not  surrendering  its  traditions,  history,  or  name,  would  appear 
unto  all  men  as  one  mighty  force  for  the  salvation  of  people  and 
the  reconstruction  of  society.  The  world  would  take  knowledge 
not  of  her  shibboleths — it  would  know  only  that  there  is  before 
it  a  power  that  makes  for  righteousness  even  as  the  vessel  lifted 
by  the  tide  takes  no  account  of  water  drops  or  separate  waves — 
it  knows  only  that  it  is  upborne  and  sent  onward  by  a  force  it 
cannot  resist. 

But  now  while  I  thus  magnify  the  social  and  reformatory 
power  of  a  Federated  Church;  while  it  stands  thus  as  a  heaven- 
knit  wall  of  resistance  to  every  enemy  of  society  when  that  enemy 
comes  in  like  a  flood;  and  while  I  conceive  that  this  economic 
consideration — if  there  were  no  other — were  enough  to  justify 
and  demand  the  union  of  Churches  for  a  forward  movement  in 
missions  and  reforms — there  is  a  yet  deeper,  mightier,  diviner 
reason  for  the  movement  for  which  this  Conference  stands. 

That  reason  is  in  the  spiritual  impress  it  would  make  on  the 
public  mind  and  conscience.  The  world  waits  for  a  commanding 
apologetic.  Federation  of  the  right  kind  will  supply  it — of  the 
right  kind.  At  the  beginning  of  our  counsels  may  I  presume  to 
call  your  attention  to  the  philosophy  of  the  first  Christian  Fed- 
eration ?  Look  again  at  the  little  company  in  the  upper  room.  I 
said  they  had  a  conception  of  the  social  mission  of  the  Church. 
They  registered  brotherhood  at  its  highest  power.  They  even 
feared  to  call  things  their  own  lest  they  fail  in  their  ministry  to 
each  other.  But  what  was  back  of  their  service?  What  was  the 
spring  of  it  all?  They  prayed  till  the  place  shook!  They  were 
filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost!  With  power  they  gave  witness  of  the 
resurrection.  They  were  a  great  serving  Church,  bound  in  indis- 
soluble bonds  of  common  ministry  because  their  souls  were  on  fire 
with  the  love  of  Christ  and  thrilling  with  the  power  of  His  resur- 


138  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

rection.  Their  service  was  a  baptism  of  blessing  because  their 
souls  were  with  God — as  the  rain  falls  in  reviving  power  because 
it  erst  has  been  lifted  toward  the  sun. 

The  world  needs  a  new  apologetic.  It  needs  to  see  Christ's 
longing  realized  in  the  unity  of  His  people.  It  was  this  apologetic 
He  prayed  for.  He  did  not  pray  that  they  might  be  one  in  order 
to  do  their  work  more  economically  and  efficiently,  but  that  the 
world  might  believe.  The  world  does  not  believe.  After  all  we 
have  written  and  said,  it  does  not  believe.  Written  and  spoken 
apologetics  have  gone,  one  would  think,  to  the  limit  of  human 
argument  and  appeal.  After  all  the  libraries  and  sermons,  the 
world  does  not  yet  believe.  Here  and  there  a  pilgrim  joins  our 
line  of  march.  But  the  world  with  its  multitudes  surges  past  our 
Churches.  Our  denominationalism  has  failed  to  check  the  world 
tide  that  runs  out  into  darkness — failed  to  rivet  high  a  standard 
of  public  morals  and  civic  virtue.  Eead  your  morning  paper 
if  you  do  not  believe  it.  Our  organizations  and  our  messages  at 
home  and  abroad  are  lamentably  ineffective.  It  is  even  to  be 
doubted  whether  intellectual  religious  convictions  are  as  strong 
as  they  were  a  century  ago.  When  one  considers  the  spirit  of 
doubt  which  like  an  atmosphere  pervades  much  of  our  literature, 
when  one  hears  the  sighs  of  a  Clifford  over  a  vanished  faith, 
which  leaves  life  a  lonelier  and  a  sadder  thing,  or  the  dirge  of 
George  Eliot  over  the  grave  of  personal  immortality,  one  can 
but  recoil  from  a  tendency  in  human  thinking  as  pathetic  as  it 
is  disastrous. 

And  what  shall  the  remedy  be?  Not  argument — it  is  con- 
ceded; not  even  brotherhood,  not  the  surrender  of  possessions 
for  the  woes  of  a  sorrowing  world.  We  must  get  together — but 
on  a  platform  deeper  and  stronger  than  human  kindness.  Accept 
the  philosophy  of  the  Master's  prayer.  We  must  get  together 
if  ever  the  world  shaU  believe.  Accept  the  apostles'  example. 
We  must  get  together  in  spiritual  perception  and  spiritual  ex- 
perience. We  must  pray  together  till  the  house  trembles.  We 
must  rejoice  together  in  a  divine  Christ  really — not  symboUcaUy — 
risen  from  the  dead  and  to-day  the  Leader  of  His  sacramental 
host. 

Then  the  world  will  believe.  It  may  discount  our  ethics  as 
long  it  has.  It  may  sneer  at  our  brotherhood  and  call  it  our 
"closed  shop,"  but  it  will  bow  before  the  majesty  of  hearts  fused 
together  in  the  glow  of  a  common  passion  for  a  living  and  con- 


ADDRESSES    OF    WELCOME  139 

quering  Redeemer— the  inspiration  of  a  common  service  for  hu- 
manity. Christ  said,  "When  My  disciples  are  together  the  world 
will  believe."  His  first  disciples  proved  it.  They  got  together  in 
the  deepest  places  of  their  souls,  and  the  world,  awed  and  con- 
senting, believed.  And  now  what  the  world  needs  is  faith  in 
God.  Not  primarily  a  balm  for  its  sorrows— a  healing  for  its 
sores.  It  needs  a  faith  which  shall  make  it  triumph  over  sor- 
rows and  pains — a  hope  which  shall  open  the  way  through  human 
storms,  as  the  sun  transforms  the  clouds  at  eventide  to  opening 
curtains.  And  what  union  in  prayer  and  experience  did  for  the 
first  disciples  it  will  do  to  the  last  syllable  of  recorded  time. 

Behold  a  path  of  Federation  that  will  answer  Christ's  prayer! 
Then  all  the  rest  will  come  as  an  inevitable  sequence.  We  will 
know  then  how  to  hold  our  denominational  pride  in  proper  sub- 
jection to  the  welfare  of  the  Kingdom.  We  will  know  how  to 
realize  brotherhood  in  a  social  and  missionary  service  whose  only 
horizon  is  the  rim  of  the  world.  Then  will  come  a  campaign  of 
world-conquest  at  whose  summit  there  may  even  be  a  complete 
reconstruction  of  all  the  denominationalism  of  the  present — such 
a  blending  of  banners  that  only  an  omniscient  eye  can  discern  the 
original  constituents. 

You  remember  the  story  of  the  battle  of  Lookout  Mountain? 
As  the  regiments  from  widely-sundered  States  pressed  toward  the 
top  they  steadily  and  unconsciously  approached  each  other.  The 
boys  from  New  England,  from  New  York,  from  Ohio  and  Wis- 
consin forced  their  way  up  the  perilous  heights  under  their  own 
flags — ^but  all  federated  for  the  common  cause — under  one  plan 
and  one  conunander.  Heart  beat  with  heart  though  they  could 
neither  see  each  other's  colors  nor  hear  each  other's  drums.  When 
the  clouds  of  the  battle  lifted  at  the  top,  it  was  apparent  they  were 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  and  their  banners  fluttered  in  intermingling 
folds  in  the  light  of  a  common  victory. 

And  do  you  not  hear  it — the  tramp  of  gathering  hosts  ?  They 
do  not  quite  discern  each  other.  But  a  common  necessity  binds 
them — a  common  commission  urges  them — a  common  hope  in- 
spires them.  That  their  steps  are  accordant  does  not  matter — 
or  their  uniform  the  same  is  of  no  account.  They  love  the  one 
Lord — cherish  the  one  faith — bow  to  the  one  baptism.  And  the 
day  of  their  victory  is  coming!  They  vnll  know  it  when  shoulder 
presses  shoulder  and  banner  twines  with  banner.  They  will  know 
it,  and  the  world  will  know  it — know  it — and  believe! 


ADDRESS    OF    WELCOME    FOR    THE    CHURCHES 
OF    THE    CITY 


The  Rev.  Robert  S.  Mac  Arthur,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


This  session  of  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation 
marks  an  era  in  the  Church  life  and  work  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  civilized  world.  Doubtless  this  is  the  most  important  re- 
ligious assembly,  in  its  influence  on  the  future  of  American 
Protestantism,  that  has  ever  been  held  on  this  continent.  The  only 
other  religious  conferences  in  America  at  all  approaching  this  Con- 
ference were  those  of  Evangelical  Alliance  in  1873,  and  those  of 
the  Ecumenical  Conference  in  1900.  During  the  next  week  we 
shall  make  religious  history  that  shall  influence  church  life  and 
work  in  all  future  generations  in  America  and  throughout  the 
world. 

We  are  assembled  here  from  many  of  the  States  of  the  American 
Union,  and  as  the  representatives  of  various  social  conditions,  re- 
ligious creeds  and  Church  polities.  Representative  men,  both  of 
the  laity  and  of  the  clergy,  are  here  in  the  interest  of  greater  creedal 
unity,  more  effective  religious  work,  and  warmer  love  for  our  com- 
mon Lord  and  Master.  All  sectional  and  sectarian  differences  are 
largely  forgotten,  and  the  essential  unity  of  the  common  faith  is 
one  of  the  inspiring  motives  of  this  assemblage.  Never  before  in 
America  has  the  desire  for  Christian  cooperation  been  so  conspicu- 
ously manifested  as  now;  and  this  occasion  will  greatly  increase 
that  desire.  Thus  this  Conference  emphasizes  the  essential  union 
now  existing,  and  it  will  assuredly  increase  that  union  in  the  near 
future. 

Perhaps  organic  Church  union  is  neither  feasible  nor  desirable. 
He  is  a  rash  man  who  should  aflirm  that  more  work  for  God  and 
man  would  be  done  at  home  and  abroad  if  all  Churches  were  one 
Church,  than  is  done  now.  The  existence  of  different  denomina- 
tions is  not  always  an  unmixed  evil.  There  was  a  time  when  virtu- 
ally there  was  only  one  Church,  and  it  was  an  era  of  biblical  ignor- 
ance, of  dark  superstition  and  of  spiritual  bondage.  There  may  be 
organic  union  where  but  little  essential  unity  exists;  and  there  may 
be  various  religious  organizations  between  which  genuine  spiritual 
S3Tnpathy  and  essential  unity  happily  exist.    Perhaps  even  ten  years 

140 


ADDRESSES    OF    WELCOME  141 

ago  such  a  Conference  as  this  would  have  been  impossible;  it  is 
certain  that  ten  years  hence  another  Conference,  expressive  of  even 
closer  union  and  fuller  fellowship  than  perhaps  we  dare  to-day 
prophesy,  will  be  held  with  songs  of  gratitude  and  joy  on  the  part 
of  all  God's  true  children. 

On  behalf  of  the  Churches  of  New  York  I  have  the  honor  and 
pleasure  of  welcoming  you  to  this  imperial  citv'.  On  her  throne, 
comprising  an  area  of  3.27  square  miles,  New  York  sits  as  queen. 
The  superb  city  is  the  metropolis  of  the  Western  Hemisphere.  It 
has  been  learned  within  the  last  few  weeks  that  her  population  has 
passed  the  4,000,000  limit.  New  York  is  thus  in  population  the 
second  city  in  the  world,  and  in  area  the  largest  city  in  the  world. 
London  is  now  the  world's  heart ;  when  that  heart  beats  pulses  throb 
around  the  globe. 

New  York  is  to  the  New  World  what  London  is  to  the  whole 
world.  The  day  is  coming  when  New  York  will  be  to  the  whole 
world  what  London  is  to-day.  It  is  quite  certain  that  New  York  will 
soon  become  the  financial  centre  of  the  world;  perhaps  she  is  that 
even  now.  Her  boroughs  are  united  by  enormous  suspension  bridges 
and  by  admirable  subway  systems.  No  street  in  the  world  is  so 
long  as  Broadway.  No  other  city  has  a  system  of  parks  so  large 
and  so  costly.  Her  gigantic  office  buildings  are  among  the  modem 
wonders  of  the  world ;  their  foundations  go  deeper  toward  the  heart 
of  the  earth,  and  their  summits  rise  higher  toward  the  heavens  than 
any  other  business  buildings  on  the  globe.  Her  postoffice  handles 
10,000,000  pieces  of  mail  matter  every  day.  About  30,000,000  pas- 
sengers arrive  annually  at  one  of  her  railway  stations,  and  over 
40,000,000  more  at  other  railway  stations.  The  number  of  pas- 
sengers carried  daily  on  her  elevated,  surface  and  subway  railways 
almost  passes  the  belief  of  her  best  informed  citizens. 

New  York  is  the  home  for  representatives  of  all  kindreds, 
tongues  and  nations.  Perhaps  five  times  as  many  languages  as  were 
spoken  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  are  spoken  every  day  in  New  York. 
As  Pentecost  was  the  antidote  to  Babel,  so  the  spirit  of  true  Amer- 
icanism and  of  genuine  Christianity  is  to-day  in  New  York  mani- 
festing itself  by  unifying  linguistic  differences  and  by  removing 
racial  prejudices.  If  New  York  is  the  worst  city  in  the  world,  as 
some  affirm,  it  is  also  the  best.  In  no  city  are  there  nobler  charities 
and  sublimer  philanthropies.  No  city  responds  more  promptly  and 
geuerously  to  the  call  for  help,  whether  it  come  from  another  Amer- 
ican city,  overcome  by  some  appalling  disaster,  or  from  famine 


142  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

stricken  peoples  in  Europe  or  Asia.  In  her  charities,  as  in  her 
hotels,  apartment  houses  and  luxurious  residences,  New  York  is 
unique  among  the  great  cities  of  the  world.  As  churchmen  and 
citizens  in  no  mean  city,  we  welcome  you  to  the  full  freedom  of 
imperial  New  York. 

I  have  the  further  honor  and  pleasure  of  welcoming  you  to  the 
Churches  and  pulpits  of  New  York.  You  will  find  here  Churches 
characterized  by  great  zeal  and  by  pure  faith.  Church  members 
here,  as  everywhere,  fall  far  below  their  privileges  and  their  obli- 
gations; but  the  Lord  and  Master  of  us  all  said  of  the  disciples 
who  gathered  about  Him  during  His  public  ministry,  "Ye  are  the 
salt  of  the  earth."  This  description  of  His  disciples  then  applies 
to  His  Church  of  to-day.  That  salt  has  not  lost  its  savor ;  it  never 
will  lose  its  savor.  Christ  also  said,  "Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world." 
That  light  has  not  gone  out ;  it  never  will  go  out.  A  mighty  force 
for  evangelical  religion  goes  out  from  the  pulpits  and  pews  of  New 
York.  Goodly  numbers  of  men  and  women,  even  in  the  richest  and 
most  fashionable  churches,  are  engaged  in  lowly  service  among  the 
poor  for  their  good  and  for  God's  glory.  We  welcome  you,  men  of 
the  clergy,  to  our  pulpits;  you  are  our  brothers  beloved.  Bearing 
different  denominational  names,  we  are  still  one  in  loyalty  and  love 
to  Jesus  Christ.  All  who  are  cleansed  in  the  Fountain  open  for 
sinners  and  who  are  clothed  in  the  spotless  robe  of  Christ's  right- 
eousness, are  brothers,  whatever  their  creed  or  color.  We  thus  wel- 
come you  in  the  Master's  name  to  the  pulpits  consecrated  to  the 
preaching  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the  divine  Christ  and  to  the  un- 
veiling of  the  face  of  God — His  and  our  Father. 

We  have  enormously  perplexing  religious  problems  to  solve  in 
New  York.  It  is  difficult  to  realize  that  within  twenty-five  miles 
of  the  City  HaU  more  than  one-fifteenth  of  the  population  of  the 
whole  United  States  is  found.  We  have  an  enormous  population  of 
nominal  Protestants  who  are  churchless ;  probably  the  number  is  not 
less  than  1,000,000.  Our  population  increases  at  the  rate  of  about 
100,000  each  year,  and  a  great  percentage  of  this  increase  is  foreign, 
or  of  foreign  descent.  Only  about  twenty  per  cent,  of  Greater  New 
York  is  of  purely  American  descent.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  the  greatest  foreign  mission  field  in  the  world,  in  the  same 
area,  is  in  New  York.  In  striving  to  evangelize  New  York  we  are 
doing  much  toward  the  evangelization  of  the  whole  world.  We  can 
thus  do  much  toward  obeying  Christ's  command,  "Go  ye  into  all 
the  world,"  without  going  outside  of  New  York.     The  population 


ADDRESSES    OF    WELCOME  143 

of  foreign  descent  in  New  York  is  greater  than  the  entire  popula- 
tion of  Chicago.  It  is  affirmed  that  one  person  out  of  every  five  in 
Manhattan  is  a  Hebrew.  Thirty-six  daily  newspapers  are  pub- 
lished in  New  York  in  other  languages  than  English.  Home  and 
foreign  mission  work  is  one  work  in  New  York.  Here  heathen  tem- 
ples are  erected  and  heathen  services  are  performed.  We  must 
Christianize  these  heathen  and  semi-heathen  peoples,  or  they  will 
do  much  toward  heathenizing  us.  In  the  aggressive  evangelistic 
tent  movement  of  the  past  summer,  it  was  conclusively  shown  that 
great  numbers  of  foreigners  are  ready  to  receive  the  Gospel  when 
preached  in  their  own  tongues,  and  to  acknowledge  Christ  as  Sa- 
viour and  Lord.  We  are  finding  that  social  settlements  only  par- 
tially solve  our  perplexing  problems.  The  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  divine  catholicon  for  all  the  world's  woes.  It  is  still  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation  to  all  who  believe  in  Jesus.  This  tent  move- 
ment of  last  season  is  a  prophecy  of  still  larger  and  diviner  things 
for  Christ  and  the  Church  on  Manhattan  Island.  This  Conference 
will  greatly  contribute  toward  a  complete  realization  of  our  highest 
Christian  ideals. 

I  have  the  still  further  honor  and  pleasure  of  welcoming  you 
to  our  homes  and  to  our  hearts.  It  is  often  said  that  hospitality  is 
a  lost  grace  in  our  great  cities.  No  doubt  there  is  an  element  of 
truth  in  this  affirmation.  Unavoidable  social  conditions  limit  the 
opportunities  of  showing  the  hospitality  which  is  earnestly  cher- 
ished. It  is  very  certain  that  hospitality  is  often  urged  in  Scripture 
on  all  Christians  as  one  of  the  duties  of  our  holy  religion.  We  must 
preserve  the  spirit,  at  least,  of  this  most  gracious  Christian  virtue. 
This  duty  is  especially  urged  upon  ministers  of  religion,  and  they 
will  be  unloving  toward  their  brethren  and  disloyal  toward  their 
inspired  instructions  if  they  be  lacking  in  this  grace.  We  are  well 
assured  that  religious  men  and  women  bring  a  great  blessing  to  the 
homes  in  which  they  are  entertained  and  to  the  families  who  are 
their  hosts. 

It  is  our  earnest  hope  and  our  most  fervent  prayer  that  the 
sessions  of  this  historic  Conference  may  greatly  deepen,  energize  and 
spiritualize  the  desire  for  Christian  union  and  for  practical  co- 
operation in  religious  work  in  the  hearts  of  all  the  delegates,  and 
of  all  the  Church  members  whom  they  represent.  May  waves  of 
revival  blessing  go  out  from  this  Conference,  which  shall  refresh 
the  hearts  of  God's  people  all  over  our  land  and  throughout  the 
world.     We  shall  make  history  in  this  Conference  whose  full  sig- 


144  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

nificance  will  not  be  understood  by  the  present  generation.  Genera- 
tions to  come  will  rise  up  to  call  those  blessed  who  in  this  Confer- 
ence spoke,  labored  and  prayed  for  fuller  union  in  faith  and  work 
on  the  part  of  all  who  profess  the  name  of  Christ. 

When,  in  1453,  the  superb  church  of  St.  Sophia  in  Constanti- 
nople became  a  Mohammedan  mosque,  the  face  of  Christ,  once  seen 
in  rich  mosaic  in  the  lofty  dome,  was  covered  with  plaster.  In  re- 
cent years  the  plaster  has  flaked  off  in  layers,  and  now  once  more 
the  face  of  Him  who  is  the  God-man  may  be  partly  seen  by  the 
observant  beholder.  Too  often  the  face  of  the  Christ  has  been  hid- 
den behind  sectarian  bigotries,  traditional  creeds  and  elaborate  rit- 
uals. Let  it  be  ours  in  this  Conference  to  remove  everything  which 
hides  the  Christ  of  God !  Let  us  remember  His  own  words,  ''He 
that  hath  seen  Me,  hath  seen  the  Father."  In  this  vision  of  the 
Father  in  Christ  we  shall  understand  the  full  significance  of  the 
profound  and  reverent  words  of  Browning : 

I  say,  the  acknowledgment  of  God  in  Christ, 
Accepted  by  thy  reason,  solves  for  thee 
All  questions  in  the  earth  and  out  of  it, ' 
And  has  so  far  advanced  thee  to  be  wise. 


REV.    JOHN    BANCROFT   DEVINS,    D.D.  REV.   M.   E.   DWIGHT 


REV.    E.    S.    TIPPLE,    D.D.  MR.   WM.   T.   DEMAREST 


INTRODUCTORY    ADDRESSES 


THE   GENERAL   MOVEMENT   OF    THE    CHRISTIAN 

CHURCHES    TOWARDS    CLOSER 

FELLOWSHIP 


The  Rev.  William  Hayes  Ward,   D.D.,  LL.D. 


The  history  of  fellowship  in  the  Church  is  a  long  one,  but  has 
been  sadly  broken.  It  began  in  the  Church  of  the  Disciples,  pre- 
sided over  by  our  Lord ;  it  had  a  glorious  victory  in  the  first  danger 
that  threatened  the  Apostolic  Church;  but  soon  after  the  second 
and  third  generation  had  passed  away,  the  cloud,  and  then  the 
storm,  of  dissension,  shattered  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and  for  long 
centuries  division  and  not  union  marked  its  history,  until,  in  these 
late  years,  our  Lord's  last  prayer  is  remembered  again,  and  the 
impulse  for  union  is  a  chief  feature  of  our  current  Church  history. 

Christ's  last  prayer,  "That  they  may  be  one,  that  the  world  may 
know  that  Thou  hast  sent  me,"  is  full  of  the  deepest  meaning.  It 
seemed  to  anticipate  the  greatest  evil  that  threatened  the  early 
Church,  and  that  has  for  centuries  paralyzed  its  activities.  Very 
soon  did  the  danger  of  schism  appear.  The  first  Church  Council 
at  Jerusalem  was  a  victory  of  union  over  division.  There  was  im- 
minent peril  that  the  Church  would  be  torn  asunder  in  its  very 
infancy;  and  that  would  have  meant  its  death,  as  truly  as  in  the 
case  of  Solomon's  decree  to  divide  the  infant  between  the  two 
mothers.  No  question  of  difference  that  has  since  separated  Chris- 
tians has  been  deeper  than  that  which  separated  Paul  and  Barnabas 
and  Titus  from  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem,  of  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees 
who  believed,  presided  over  by  all  the  Apostles  who  had  followed 
our  Lord  in  the  flesh.  It  was  the  question  whether  or  not  Chris- 
tians must  be  Mosaic  Jews,  whether  Christianity  was  ceremonial  or 
only  spiritual.  Over  that  question  they  came  together,  and  Paul 
debated  it  first  privately  with  them  that  were  of  repute,  and  then 
publicly  in  the  great  Council  of  the  Church,  until  finally  they 
agreed  on  a  temporary  compromise,  Peter  and  James  and  John 
yielding  as  to  circumcision,  and  Paul  yielding  as  to  things  sacrificed 
to  idols,  things  strangled  and  blood,  and  all  guided  in  their  de- 
cision by  divine  inspiration.  "It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  to  us,"  they  said,  in  a  letter  which  is  not  only  the  earliest 

147 


148  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

■written  portion  of  the  New  Testament,  but,  out  of  the  whole  Bible, 
the  section  most  thoroughly  accredited  by  inspiration.  Of  this 
only  are  we  told  that  "it  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us," 
for  we  know  that  the  word  "us"  embraced  both  parties  in  the 
Church,  and  the  inspired  writers  of  nearly  all  the  New  Testament — 
certainly  Paul,  Peter,  James  and  John,  and  probably  others.  All 
this  inspiration  was  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of  Church  fellow- 
ship, and  for  Church  fellowship  compromise  was  necessary  and 
allowed. 

But  still  more,  the  principle  accepted  and  announced  was  not 
uniformity,  but  liberty.  The  liberty  then  allowed  was  something 
amazing.  It  seemed  to  overthrow,  and  it  did  annul,  the  most 
sacred  code  of  Sinai.  We  can  hardly  conceive  of  anything  more 
revolutionary.  But  such  was  the  necessity  of  unity,  and  such  the 
force  of  the  spiritual  element  as  the  root  of  Christianity,  that  even 
this  amazing  concession  Avas  inscribed  on  the  banner  of  religious 
liberty.  The  lesson  was  then  taught  to  the  Church — what  a  pity 
it  was  not  learned! — that  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  could  yet  differ 
in  serious  matters  of  doctrine,  and  in  the  chief  est  modes  of  worship, 
and  yet  be  in  the  communion  of  the  one  Christian  Church. 

But  in  a  century  or  two  the  immediate  memory  of  those  who 
had  walked  and  talked  on  earth  with  Christ  passed  away,  and  the 
yielding  spirit  of  liberty  in  union  gave  way  to  the  intolerance  of 
enforced  uniformity  and  subordination.  Then  came  the  period  of 
what  we  usually  call  Church  histor}'^,  which  is  the  history  of  separa- 
tion, division  and  damnatory  decrees.  Sects  were  driven  off,  gen- 
erally to  perish,  to  lapse  into  heartless  compulsory  submission,  or 
into  paganism,  or  to  organize  new  Churches  like  the  Nestorians. 
The  great  Eastern  and  Western  Churches  divided  on  a  miserable 
question  of  the  date  of  an  event,  and  the  dominant  Church  created 
new  dogmas,  and  enforced  personal  centralization  under  the  name 
of  Peter,  and  enforced  conformity  by  the  rack  of  the  Inquisition. 
No  man  was  allowed  to  stay  in  the  Church  who  doubted  or  dis- 
obeyed its  accretionary  decrees,  and  those  who  dared  to  disobey  and 
could  flee  its  tyranny  hid  in  "mountains  cold"  or  fled  across  the 
seas — driven  to  separate  from,  because  not  allowed  to  remain  in,  the 
old  Church.  Only  liberty  within  the  essential  faith,  such  as  Paul 
and  Peter  allowed,  can  give  us  a  united  Church.  It  was  the 
righteous  determination  to  assert  their  denied  liberty  of  faith  that 
compelled  the  great  schism  of  the  sixteenth  century,  led  by  Luther 
and  Calvin,  which  gave  u?  the  Protestantism  that  assorted  personal 


EVANOELISM   AND    UNION  149 

li])erty,  but  too  soon  denied  its  first  principle  of  toleration  and  ex- 
pelled again  and  again  those  who  differed  with  them. 

No  book,  no  library,  has  yet  written  the  story  of  the  hundreds 
of  sects  of  Christendom.  Not  even  a  list  of  them  would  it  be  easy 
to  make.  The  census  of  1890  found  140  in  tliis  country,  and  they 
nearly  all  sprung  up  a  hundred  years  ago,  or  in  sections  of  the  land 
still  belated  and  medieval.  That  was  the  age  of  division ;  we  have 
now  come  into  the  era  of  union,  tolerance  and  liberty. 

It  is  a  fact,  not  sufficiently  considered,  that  the  spirit  of  unity 
has  grown  out  of  the  zeal  for  evangelism.  These  are  the  two  notes 
of  the  Church  of  the  present  day — evangelism  and  union — which 
distinguish  it  from  the  Church  of  a  century  ago;  the  sense  of  the 
duty  to  convert  the  world,  and  the  sense  of  the  duty  to  come 
together  that  we  may  convert  the  world — "that  they  may  be  one, 
that  the  world  may  know  that  Thou  hast  sent  me."  So  our  first 
home  and  foreign  missionary  societies  were  union  societies,  sup- 
ported equally  by  the  Congregational,  Presb}i;erian  and  Dutch  Ee- 
formed  Churches  of  the  Northeastern  States,  and  such  they  re- 
mained, union  societies,  for  over  sixty  years,  imtil  another  union, 
that  of  the  Old  and  New  School  Presbyterian  Churches,  by  a  sort 
of  back-action,  put  an  end  to  this  earlier,  if  not  premature,  union. 
But  other  wider  union  societies,  organized  about  the  same  time,  the 
Bible,  Tract  and  Sunday  School  Societies,  still  held  their  principle 
of  fellowship  against  a  strengthening  denominational  spirit. 

The  first  effect  of  a  growing  sense  of  the  duty  of  evangelism  is 
the  effort  to  spread  one's  own  pattern  of  organization.  A  restricted 
vision  cannot  look  abroad.  It  imagines  that  its  churchianity  is 
the  only  true  Christianity.  So  the  magnificent  denominational 
growths  of  the  beginning  and  middle  of  the  last  century  were 
l>lessed,  if  imperfect,  efforts  of  that  spirit  of  consecration  which 
attempted  to  convert  the  world,  each  of  the  dozens  of  denomina- 
tions holding  practically,  if  not  confessedly,  that  its  own  organiza- 
tion was  the  one  correct  Church,  and  must  have  its  own  boards  of 
missions  for  extension  at  home  and  abroad,  A  certain  indefinite 
common  basis  was  blindly  admitted  to  exist — as  if  Christ  were  some- 
thing indefinite — but  in  few  cases  was  it  considered  fit  that  a  min- 
ister could  freely  pass  from  one  denomination  to  another.  Yet  pro- 
pinquity leads  to  love;  and  common  needs  which  no  one  Church 
could  supply  compelled  union  in  certain  lines  of  common  effort. 
Hence  the  magnificent  growth  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, which,  in  all  our  cities  and  most  of  our  larger  towns,  has 


150  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

its  stately  and  well  equipped  buildings,  and  extends  its  activity  now 
all  over  the  world.  In  all  this  there  is  no  official  action  of  denomi- 
nations ;  but  individuals,  locally  consenting,  organize  themselves  on 
the  simple  basis  of  fellowship,  disregarding  their  minor  differences 
of  faith  and  polity,  and  combine  to  do  their  part  in  common  evan- 
gelism. It  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  two  notes  of  the  true 
Church  Evangelism  and  Unity. 

And  from  the  young  men  the  spirit  passed  to  the  youth,  to  the 
children,  indeed,  of  both  sexes.  The  Christian  Endeavor  and  its 
allied  organizations  wholly  or  partly  ignore  denominational  bar- 
riers. In  many  tens  of  thousands  of  churches  are  they  found,  and 
millions  of  young  people  are  banded  together,  refusing  to  be  shut 
in  walls  of  sects,  fellowshipped  in  praise  and  service,  led  by  the 
hand  gently  into  the  public  confession  of  Christ,  which  they  had 
already  learned  to  make,  in  their  little  circles,  by  word  of  Scripture 
and  utterance  of  consecration.  A  blessed  example  have  they  given 
to  their  fathers  and  teachers. 

Equally  impressive  has  been  the  movement  for  the  union  created 
by  the  spirit  of  evangelism  in  the  foreign  mission  field.  It  is  espe- 
cially marked  in  its  progress  at  the  present  day,  while  its  history  is 
forming.  At  home  we  somehow  fail  to  see  immediately  the  ridic- 
ulousness of  having  a  hundred  denominations  with  a  hundred  mis- 
sion boards  and  a  hundred  secretaries;  but  when  the  missionaries 
meet  in  the  presence  of  militant  idolatry,  each  separately  resisted 
by  the  united  force  of  false  religions,  they  ask.  Why  should  not 
we,  too,  unite?  Why  should  we  set  up  Church  against  Church? 
AVliy  should  we  not  help  instead  of  hindering  each  other  ?  So  before 
the  boards  at  home  were  ready  the  missionaries  abroad  began  to  ask 
for  union,  and  now  the  boards  are  learning  and  consenting.  In 
China,  in  India,  in  Japan,  they  unite  first  in  conferences  like  this ; 
they  agree,  as  we  shall  agree,  to  harmonize  their  action,  to  fix  their 
bounds,  and  as  far  and  fast  as  possible  to  consolidate  their  colleges 
and  seminaries,  their  publishing  work,  and  to  establish  great 
national  Churches  that  shall  have  no  memory  of  Western  divisions, 
or  names  that  mean  nothing  to  Orientals,  but  shall  give  the  people 
a  great  Christian  Church  of  Japan,  or  China,  or  India.  All  this  is 
partly  done;  it  is  partly  in  the  process  of  doing;  but  it  is  moving, 
it  is  coming.  Why  should  the  Hindoo  cling  to  the  names  of  Luther 
and  Calvin  and  Cranmer  and  Wesley?  Why  even  of  Paul  and 
Cephas?     Only  Christ! 

In  the  mission  fields  union  is  coming  both  by  federation  in  work, 


FEDERATION    OF   DE:N0MI2^ATI0NS  151 

and  by  the  corporate  union  of  denominations.     This  is  true  also  in 
Christian  lands. 

Dr.  Gladden's  articles  in  "The  Century"  some  years  ago  gave 
an  ideal  picture  of  the  beauty  of  union  of  Churches  in  the  service 
of  a  town  or  city.  Soon  Federation  began  to  organize  itself  in 
this  and  other  cities,  through  voluntary  action,  and  then  was  formed 
the  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  to 
establish  State  and  city  federations.  But  all  these  and  other 
movements  that  might  be  mentioned,  besides  numerous  conventions, 
published  articles  and  addresses,  represented  mostly  voluntary  work 
rather  than  official  Federation  of  denominations.  In  Maine,  how- 
ever, a  beautiful  example  was  set  of  absolutely  official  corporation 
and  Federation.  There  the  Christian  Churches— the  Baptists,  Free 
Baptists,  Methodists  and  Congregationalists— united  on  a  recog- 
nized basis,  with  representatives  from  each  body,  agreeing  to  pre- 
vent unnecessary  interference  of  Churches  and  hurtful  rivalries. 
This  has  continued  thirteen  years  with  the  happiest  results,  and 
has  been  partially  repeated  in  Vermont  and  Michigan.  Perhaps 
the  brethren  in  Maine  do  not  know  how  widely  their  example  has 
been  recognized,  and  what  has  been  its  influence  leading  to  the 
present  Conference. 

But  on  a  larger  scale  a  Federation  of  the  Free  Churches  in  Eng- 
land has  been  doing  a  similar  work.  It  has  brought  the  Churches 
embraced  in  it  closer  together,  and  has  given  them  enhanced  power 
for  the  social  and  religious  reformation  of  their  country. 

Similarly  great  international  groups  of  allied  denominations 
have  federated,  Presbyterians  the  world  over,  and  Methodists, 
greatly  to  their  mutual  acquaintance  and  advantage. 

The  examples  thus  set  have  been  followed  and  even  bettered  in 
many  directions,  for  while  Federation  is  good,  corporate  union  is 
better,  whenever  it  can  bring  together  those  Churches  that  are  nearly 
allied.  The  union  of  the  Lutheran  and  the  Eeformed  Churches  of 
Germany  in  a  single  German  Church  is  an  example  in  point.  More 
lately,  only  five  years  ago  this  month,  with  great  rejoicing  the  Free 
Church  and  the  United  Church  of  Scotland  came  together,  greatly 
to  the  benefit  of  both.  In  Canada  we  see  the  process  of  an  extraor- 
dinary consolidation  going  on  of  Presbyterian,  Congregational  and 
Wesleyan  Churches  in  a  single  organization.  Similar  unions  are 
being  accomplished  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand.  The  same 
spirit  which  has  brought  the  colonies  of  Australia  into  a  single 
Commonwealth  is  bringing  equally  the   denominations  together. 


152  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

But  to  return  to  this  country,  the  two  Reformed  Churches  have 
been  seriously  considering  union  with  each  other,  or  with  some 
otlier  body;  and  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terians, and  one  or  two  minor  bodies  are  approaching  corporate 
union,  which  is  sure  to  come  in  the  end.  The  Congregationalists, 
United  Brethren  and  Methodist  Protestants  will  meet  in  February 
next  to  settle  how  nearly  they  can  combine  in  some  way  their  forces, 
and  other  denominations  have  a  similar  union  under  serious  con- 
sideration. In  some  way  or  other  the  blessed  spirit  of  union  seems 
to  have  descended  like  a  dove  upon  our  Churches,  and  all  are  asking 
how  they  can  come  closer  together. 

There  have  been  other  attempts  at  union,  wliich  might  perhaps 
be  better  called  propositions  for  union — on  some  general  basis. 
These  have  taken  the  form  of  "^quadrilaterals,"  so-called,  and  have 
had  much  value,  notwithstanding  their  failure,  and  perhaps  the 
expectation  that  they  would  fail ;  but  they  have  brought  before  the 
Christian  world  the  simplicity  of  the  essential  Christian  faith. 
First  tjie  Episcopalians  in  Chicago  in  1886,  approved  by  the 
Bishops  of  the  Church  of  England  at  Lambeth  in  1888,  suggested 
four  conditions  of  union — the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
the  two  Sacraments  and  the  historic  episcopate.  Then  the  Dis- 
ciples in  1891  followed  with  three  propositions  as  a  basis  for  unity, 
and  the  Congregationalists  in  1895  followed  with  their  four  condi- 
tions as  a  basis.  Of  these  only  the  Episcopalian  received  any 
serious  attention.  For  several  years  there  was  conference  on  the 
basis  of  the  Lambeth  Quadrilateral  with  the  Presbyterians,  but  it 
came  to  nothing  accomplished,  beyond  the  increased  desire  for  some 
basis  on  which  the  essential  unity  of  the  great  Christian  Church 
could  be  expressed.  The  attempt  at  formal,  organic  unity  was 
shown  to  be  for  the  present  impossible,  except  in  the  consolidation 
of  two  or  more  allied  denominations,  so  that  the  alternative  re- 
mained of  a  Federation  in  which  there  should  be  no  compromise  of 
the  several  creeds  or  forms  of  government,  of  the  full  right  of  each 
to  serve  God  in  its  own  way,  while  fellowshipping  and  aiding  all 
the  others.  Out  of  this  desire  has  come  the  present  Conference,  in 
which  no  denomination  takes  the  lead,  called  by  a  body  represent- 
ing all  denominations,  and  in  which  no  company  of  believers  is 
asked  to  yield  one  whit  of  its  cherished  faith  or  inherited  customs 
or  autonomy. 

This  rapid  and  general  view  of  the  movement  of  the  Christian 
Churches  toward  closer  fellowship  shows  us  the  various  way?  in 


UNITY  ON  THE  BASIS  OF  INDIVIDUAL  FREEDOM         153 

which  fellowship  may  be  achieved.  It  may  be  by  compulsion  of 
law,  whether  by  the  supreme  force  of  the  Inquisition,  the  less  stern 
repression  of  Kussian  sects,  or  the  milder  social  attraction  of  a 
State  Church.  But  all  these  methods  are  sure  to  fail,  and  they 
only  make  more  positive  the  insistence  of  a  free  conscience,  and 
the  schism  of  the  separated  sects.  Nowhere  are  the  Jews  so  rigid 
as  in  persecuting  Eussia.  Fellowship  may  also  be  sought  by  ab- 
sorption. So  has  the  Eoman  communion  taken  in  Eastern  sects, 
and  is  seeking  further  accessions.  This  means  submission,  and 
destroys  the  differentiations  of  liberty,  except  when,  as  is  sometimes 
happily  the  case,  changes  of  formula  or  feeling  have  obliterated  old 
distinctions.  The  great  and  successful  fellowships  and  unions  that 
we  are  now  achieving  at  home  and  abroad  are  on  the  old  basis  set 
by  the  example  of  the  Apostles  at  Jerusalem,  on  the  liberty  of  the 
several  bodies  of  believers  to  wear  their  own  colors,  whether  they 
choose  to  march  as  separate  companies,  or  consent  to  keep  step  in 
the  same  regiment.  Thus  we  express  both  sound  fellowship  and 
get  the  consent  of  separate  convictions  in  our  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Associations  and  our  Christian  Endeavors  and  our  Bible  Socie- 
ties and  our  local  federations,  as  also  in  the  unions  which  in  Scot- 
land, Australia,  Canada  and  the  United  States  have  consolidated 
strong  denominations  into  single  bodies  of  greater  composite 
strength  and  influence.  And  it  is  on  this  basis  of  mutual  recogni- 
tion of  each  other's  essential  Christian  life  and  service,  allowing 
each  corps  or  division  or  regiment  or  company  in  the  Lord's  army 
its  own  liberty,  that  we  propose  to  create  here  a  visible  and  recog- 
nized expression  of  our  essential  oneness,  on  the  basis  of  individual 
freedom  as  established  at  Jerusalem;  something  more  organic  and 
permanent  than  the  Evangelical  Alliance  which  did  much  excellent 
work  for  thirty  years,  or  than  the  admirable  great  Missionary  Con- 
ference which  lately  met  in  this  haU.  This,  our  present  alliance, 
could  never  be  accomplished,  except  as  the  spiritual  forces  of  the 
Church,  working  outward  for  the  conversion  to  Christ  of  the  mul- 
titudes of  unevangelized  souls  in  so-called  Christian  lands  and  in 
the  dense  populations  of  paganism — unsaved  after  nineteen  cen- 
turies of  separation  and  schism — have  brought  us  closer  together, 
union  by  evangelism,  as  of  old.  Out  from  Christ,  as  from  the  sun, 
radiate  multitudinous  forces  of  life  in  multitudinous  directions. 
But  as  we  accept  that  life  and  grow  in  it,  we  are  drawn  closer  to 
our  central  sun,  and  the  closer  we  come  to  Him.  bv  force  of  that 


154  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

nearness  we  come  closer  to  one  another;  and  we  shall  come  closer 
together  until  M-e  shall  know  and  see  that  we  are  one,  and  then 
the  world  will  know  it,  and,  knowing  it,  will  know  the  Son  and  the 
Father. 


PREPARATORY    WORK    OF    RECENT^  YEARS    IN 

ADVANCING    CHURCH    FEDERATION 

IN    THE   UNITED   STATES 


The  Rev.  Elias  B.  Sanford,  D.D. 


This  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation  is  the  outcome 
of  action  initiated  and  carried  forward  by  the  National  Federa- 
tion of  Churches  until  June,  1904.  At  that  time  the  work  of  cor- 
respondence and  preparation  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  that  has  Just  noAV,  through  its  chairman,  made 
its  report.  The  relation  of  the  National  Federation,  not  only  to 
this  Conference,  but  to  most  of  the  State  and  local  Federations  in 
our  country,  makes  its  history  an  important  part  of  the  record  I  am 
asked  to  give  of  preparatory  work  in  recent  years. 

I  briefly  recall  the  steps  that  led  up  to  its  organization.     In 

1894,  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  Madison  Avenue  Presbyterian 
Church  in  this  city,  of  wliich  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  L.  Thompson 
was  then  pastor,  the  Open  and  Institutional  Church  League  was 
organized.  This  League  brought  together  a  group  of  representa- 
tive men,  connected  with  leading  denominational  bodies.  In  close 
fellowship  they  stood  upon  a  platform  that  made  an  earnest  plea 
for  a  spirit  of  ministration  that  should  "sanctify  all  days  and  all 
means  to  the  end  that  men  might  be  won  to  Christ  and  His  ser- 
vice, that  the  Church  might  be  brought  back  to  the  simplicity  and 
comprehensiveness  of  its  primitive  life  until  it  could  be  said  of 
every  community,  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  within  vou  and  Christ 
is  all  in  all." 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  league  in  Philadelphia  early  in 

1895,  action  was  taken  that  both  the  members  present,  and  the 
one  who  accepted  their  invitation  to  care  for  its  executive  aetivi- 


ORGANIZATION  OF  NATIONAL  FEDERATION  OF  CHURCHES  155 

ties,  felt  was  a  venture  of  faith.  In  entering  upon  his  duties  the 
prophecy  was  made  that  this  League,  if  faithful  to  its  plea,  could 
not  fail  to  be  a  force  working  in  the  interests  of  Christian  unity. 

About  the  time  the  Open  and  Institutional  Church  League  was 
organized,  an  honored  member  of  the  Executive  Committee,  having 
in  its  care  the  preparations  for  this  Conference — the  Eev.  Dr.  John 
Bancroft  Devins — at  that  time  in  charge  of  mission  work  on  the 
East  Side  of  this  city,  was  instrumental  in  establishing  what  was 
known  as  the  Federation  of  East  Side  Workers.  Its  purpose  and 
success  suggested  to  the  rector  of  an  Episcopalian  Church,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  Winthrop  Hegeman,  the  need  and  possibility  of  a 
Federation  that  should  include  all  the  Churches  and  Christian 
forces  of  this  city.  Through  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Hegeman,  leading 
pastors  and  influential  la}Tnen  were  interested,  and  the  Federa- 
tion of  Churches  in  this  city  was  organized  in  1895.  Since  Sep- 
tember, 1896,  the  Eev.  Dr.  Walter  Laidlaw  has  been  its  efficient 
executive  secretary.  This,  and  other  important  work  inaugurated 
and  carried  on  through  State  and  local  Federations,  will  be  brought 
to  your  attention  at  the  session  of  the  Conference  on  Friday  after- 
noon. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  why,  in  some  cases,  the  same  men 
should  have  been  called  to  serve  on  the  official  board,  both  of  the 
Open  Church  League  and  the  New  York  City  Federation.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  opportunity-  came  for  the  secretary  of  the  League  to 
speak  of  the  need  of  utilizing  these  organizations  as  a  means  of 
advancing  in  a  national  way  the  spirit  and  methods  of  practical 
cooperation  among  the  Churches.  A  letter  was  prepared  and 
sent  out  to  a  large  number  of  prominent  ministers  in  every  part  of 
the  country,  asking  their  opinion  regarding  the  need  and  feasibility 
of  organizing  a  national  society  that  should  seek  to  promote  the 
interests  of  unity  and  Church  Federation.  The  cost  of  this  corre- 
spondence was  for  the  most  part  defrayed  by  the  late  William  E. 
Dodge,  then  president  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance.  The  response 
to  the  letter  was  favorable  and  even  urgent. 

By  the  joint  action  of  the  Executive  Boards  of  the  New  York 
City  Federation  and  the  Open  Church  League,  arrangements  were 
made  for  the  Conference  held  in  this  city  December  3,  1899.  Mr. 
Dodge  presided  at  the  opening  session  and  President  Hyde,  of 
Bowdoin  College,  told  the  story  of  the  Interdenominational  Com- 
mission in  Maine,  and  others  reported  the  work  of  some  local 
Federations.     Action  was  taken  that  resulted  in  the  careful  selec- 


156  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

tion  of  a  committee  of  fifteen  ministers  and  fifteen  laymen,  rep- 
resenting different  denominations,  who  were  empowered  to  elect 
an  executive  secretary  and  report  at  a  meeting  to  be  held  the  follow- 
ing year.  Then  began  a  Avork  the  fruitfulness  of  which  has  proved 
its  need.  Of  this  service,  in  its  varied  activities  and  results,  time 
will  not  permit  me  to  speak. 

Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Conference  in  1899  a  let- 
ter was  sent  out  by  the  Executive  Committee  in  which  they  spoke 
of  the  scope  and  plans  of  the  work  placed  in  their  hands,  and 
closing  with  these  words — "The  present  organization  of  the  Na- 
tional Federation  is  only  temporary.  It  was  formed  at  the  call 
of  a  conference  for  the  purpose,  and  its  membership  was  consti- 
tuted by  that  conference.  It  has  thus,  and  could  have  at  first,  no 
official  relation  with  any  denominational  body.  But  it  is  desired 
that  it  may  be  the  forerunner  of  an  Official  Federation  of  Churches 
to  which  it  shall  give  place.  Already  not  a  few  State  bodies  have 
given  the  purposes  of  this  Federation  of  Churches  their  hearty 
indorsement;  it  is  our  desire  that  there  may  be  established  State 
federations,  like  that  so  successfully  in  operation  in  Maine,  whose 
influence  shall  prevent  wasteful  and  harmful  rivalries  of  competing 
cliurches  and  be  the  expression  of  the  comity  which  should  exist 
between  our  home  missionary  organizations.  Ma}'^  we  not  also 
look  forward  to  a  National  Federation  of  all  our  Protestant  Chris- 
tian denominations,  through  their  official  heads,  which  shall  utter 
their  declaration  of  Christian  unity,  and  accomplish  in  good  part 
the  fulfilment  of  the  prayer  of  our  Lord  that  'they  all  may  be  one, 
that  the  world  may  know  that  thou  hast  sent  me'  ?  Too  long  have 
our  Churches  been  working  along  independent  lines,  and  their  divi- 
sions have  too  long  given  point  to  the  gibes  of  the  enemy.  It  is  to 
bring  these  Churches  together,  in  testimony  and  in  service,  that 
these  local  and  this  National  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian 
Workers  have  been  organized.  They  appeal  to  the  sensitive  and 
earnest  Christian  conscience  of  those  who  are  drawn  together  be- 
cause first  drawn  to  Christ." 

The  draft  of  this  letter,  from  which  I  have  just  quoted,  wag 
prepared  by  Dr.  William  Hayes  Ward,  who  in  July,  1898,  at  the 
National  Council  of  Congregational  Churches  held  in  Portland. 
Oregon,  as  chairman  of  their  committee  on  union  with  other  de- 
nomination?, made  a  report  in  which  it  was  recommended  "that  a 
representative  council  or  conference  of  the  Protestant  Churches  in 
the  United  States  be  called  to  meet  in  the  city  of  Washington  in 


COMMITTEE    OF    CORRESPONDENCE  157 

May,  1900,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  an  interdenominational 
union,  which  shall  meet  at  regular  periods,  and  which  shall  serve 
as  a  visible  expression  of  the  unity  of  the  Churches,  and  as  a  com- 
mon bond  in  their  fellowship  with  each  other  and  their  service  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  After  certain  suggestions  as  to  calling 
the  Conference,  the  report,  which  was  unanimously  approved,  closed 
with  these  words.  *^e  ask  you  to  approve  of  this  plan,  or  some 
plan  of  visible  Federation  of  the  Evangelical  Christian  Churches  of 
this  country." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  without  knowledge  of  the  action 
taken  by  the  official  representatives  of  this  denominational  body 
the  National  Federation  of  Churches  was  coming  to  its  organiza- 
tion, prepared  to  aid  the  federative  movement  in  this  and  other 
directions. 

In  February,  1901,  the  organization  of  the  National  Federa- 
tion of  Churches  was  completed,  and  at  its  annual  meeting  in  the 
city  of  Washington,  February  2  and  3,  1902,  the  following  motion 
prevailed:  "Eesolved,  That  a  Committee  of  Correspondence  be 
appointed  to  act  with  the  Executive  Board  of  the  National  Federa- 
tion of  Churches  in  requesting  the  highest  ecclesiastical  or  ad- 
visory bodies  of  the  evangelical  denominations  to  appoint  represent- 
ative delegates  to  a  National  Federation  Conference  to  be  held  in 
the  year  1905." 

The  first  body  to  whom  the  request  for  the  appointment  of 
delegates  was  brought  was  the  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  at  its  session  in  the  city  of  Dallas,  Texas, 
in  the  month  of  May,  1902.  I  recall  with  pleasure  the  welcome 
this  Conference  gave  to  my  message  and  the  action  taken  that  has 
brought  to  us  a  noble  representation  from  this  great  Church  of  the 
Southland. 

The  time  had  come  that  in  this  work  of  preparation  and  seek- 
ing the  cooperation  of  denominational  bodies  the  official  Board 
of  the  National  Federation  could  ask  and  receive  the  aid  of  men 
officially  appointed  by  denominational  bodies  and  others  who  were 
identified  with  movements  that  are  seeking  to  strengthen  the  bond 
of  union  between  members  of  the  same  denominational  group  and, 
if  possible,  secure  organic  union.  Dr.  Roberts  has  already  made 
report  of  the  action  that  created  the  Executive  Committee  that 
has  for  nearly  two  years  had  entire  charge  of  the  arrangements  for 
this  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation.  When  the  time  came 
to  select  the  chairman  of  this  important  committee,  Dr.  Roberts, 


158  CHURCH    FEDERATION' 

by  unanimous  choice,  was  asked  to  take  this  place,  which  he  has 
so  ably  occupied.  Dr.  Roberts  was  a  member  and  for  several  years 
secretary  of  the  Committee  on  Church  Unity  of  the  Presbyterian 
General  Assembly,  which  conducted  from  1887  to  1894  negotia- 
tions looking  to  closer  relations  with  other  Christian  Churches, 
and  also  prepared  a  Plan  of  Federation  for  the  Presbyterian  and 
Reformed  Churches  of  the  United  States. 

I  am  sure  the  members  of  this  Conference  will  agree  with  me 
that  the  National  Federation  has  been  eminently  fortunate  in  se- 
curing in  its  fellowship  and  counsel  men  strong  in  position  and  lead- 
ership who  have  given  out  of  their  experience,  counsel  and  guid- 
ance in  the  work  that  has  proved  so  helpful  in  many  directions. 
In  this  labor  large  place  must  be  accorded  to  the  little  group  of 
laymen  whose  unostentatious  but  generous  gifts  have  made  this 
Avork  possible. 

We  rejoice  that  the  activities  to  which  I  have  called  your  at- 
tention have  been  crowned  with  success,  in  bringing  you  together 
in  this  Conference  to  counsel  regarding  this  world-wide  movement 
that  is  drawing  the  Church  of  Christ  into  closer  unity  of  purpose 
and  action  than  ever  before  in  the  history  of  Protestant  Chris- 
tianit}^  We  look  to  you,  the  messengers  of  the  Church  of  the  liv- 
ing God,  the  Church"  of  which  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ, 
is  the  Head,  to  carry  forward  this  work  to  a  consummation  that 
shall  manifest  to  the  world  that  you  are  One  in  Him,  whose  right 
it  is  to  reign  and  rule  in  every  heart. 

Many  of  us  here  to-day  recall  the  visions  of  youth  regarding 
the  need  and  possibility  of  achieving  the  unity  of  the  Church  as 
the  Body  of  Christ.  Some  of  us  looked  into  the  faces  of  that 
splendid  generation  of  men  who  aided  with  their  presence  and 
message  the  great  world  gathering  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  held 
in  this  city  in  1873.  Along  the  fast  flying  years  the  Saviour's 
prayer  that  "they  all  may  be  one"  has  been  a  part  of  the  pulse  beat 
of  our  lives.  Is  the  vision  of  youth  and  the  dream  of  later  years 
to  end  in  disappointment?  It  cannot  be.  It  is  the  plea  of  our 
Divine  Lord  and  Redeemer.     It  must,  it  will  prevail. 


THE    OPEN    DOOR    BEFORE    THE    CHRISTIAN 
CHURCHES 


The  Rt.  Rev.  William  Neilson  McVickar,  S.T.D. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren: 

The  horrible  consciousness  has  just  dawned  upon  me  with  the 
announcement  of  the  subject  of  my  address  that  I  have  not  stuck 
very  closely  to  my  text.  I  suppose  that  may  be  a  consciousness  that 
has  come  to  clergymen  now  and  again,  and  perhaps  they  have  been 
excused;  at  least  they  have  excused  themselves;  and  so  I  must  ask 
your  patience  if  I  wander  somewhat  from  the  theme  that  I  find  on 
the  programme. 

The  Field  Secretary  of  our  New  England  Federation,  in  an- 
nouncing this  meeting,  said  that  it  was  likely  to  be  "one  of  the  most 
momentous  gatherings  in  the  annals  of  American  Christianity,"  and 
I  rather  think  that  he  was  right.  His  first  reason  for  so  estimating 
it  was  that  twenty-one  different  denominations  (I  would  rather  call 
them,  after  apostolic  fashion,  twent}^-one  different  churches),  with 
their  19,000,000  of  communicants,  would  be  here  represented. 
Surely  that  in  itself  would  mark  its  importance.  And  when,  in 
connection  with  this,  we  consider  the  place  and  time  of  meeting, 
our  appreciation  of  it  must  be  greatly  enhanced.  It  is  not  often 
that  such  a  gathering  as  this  takes  place  in  this  great,  seething 
centre  of  busy  life.  And  it  has  not  been  called  because  of  a  sudden 
emergency,  as  the  citizens  of  Florence  were  called  together,  by  the 
tolling  of  the  old  "Vacca,"  to  announce  an  invasion  of  armed  forces ; 
nor  again  because  of  the  ravages  of  some  epidemic  that  threatens  its 
life  and  must  be  stopped  at  all  hazards;  nor  even  again  by  the  de- 
mands of  a  great  and  impending  election  which  menaces  the  honor 
and  the  fundamental  principles  of  political  existence  through  cor- 
ruption and  fraud.  Not  any  such  emergency  has  summoned  us, 
but  a  matter  as  old  as  Christianity  itself,  a  problem  which  the  early 
disciples  and  followers  of  Christ  had  to  deal  with — the  Christianiza- 
tion  of  the  world.  Nor  is  the  meeting  less  momentous  in  view  of 
the  spirit  which  inspires  it,  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love  and  co- 
operation. 

159 


160  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

Fifty  years  ago,  Mr.  Chairman,  such  a  meeting  as  this  would 
have  been  impossible — well  nigh  inconceivable.  Some  of  the  hon- 
ored grayheads  that  are  here  will  realize  more  clearly  than  the 
younger  members  of  this  Conference  can  what  I  mean.  This  meet- 
ing, fifty  years  ago!  made  up  of  Methodists!  Presbyterians  I  Con- 
gregationalists  I  Baptists  !  and  Episcopalians,  too !  Who  would  have 
dreamed  of  it?  Well,  well,  the  "iridescent  dream,"  as  it  has  been 
called,  of  a  United  Christendom  may  after  all  prove  itself  not  at  all 
a  dream  some  day  short  of  "the  sweet  by  and  by."  Those  were  days 
of  division,  when  the  Churches  stood  apart,  unlike  Charity,  which 
"seeketh  not  her  own,"  each  looking  on  her  own  things  and  askance 
at  each  other,  never  for  a  moment  conceiving  that  God's  truth 
might  be  bigger  than  their  own  little  theologies  made  it,  or  His 
Kingdom  more  comprehensive  than  their  little  bailiwicks;  and  I 
am  not  sure  that  it  would  be  extravagant  to  add  that  their  notions 
of  heaven  itself  were  respectively  of  a  glorified  Methodist,  Presby- 
terian, Baptist  or  Episcopal  realm — that,  at  least,  would  have  been 
the  logical  conclusion  of  their  exclusiveness.  And  now,  sir,  in  con- 
trast with  that  picture,  lo !  this  great  meeting,  made  up  of  all  these 
different  elements,  and  yet  dominated  by  one  all-inclusive  motive 
and  inspired  by  the  one  spirit  of  brotherly  kindness  and  concord. 
Certainly  we  are  getting  nearer  to  one  another;  nearer,  as  I  surely 
believe,  as  we  are  getting  back  and  nearer  to  the  manger  and  the 
cross  of  the  one  Great  Master.  We  no  longer  feel  it  necessary  to  be 
forever  on  guard  over  our  own  ways,  and  in  doing  so  to  discredit 
and  disparage  those  of  others.  We  vnW  not  forbid  any  to  cast  out 
devils  because  they  follow  not  with  us,  so  long  as  we  are  sure 
that  the  devils  are  really  cast  out.  I  wish  I  could  say 
this  with  as  much  assurance  here  as  I  can  in  Ehode  Island.  Yes, 
this  is  a  momentous  meeting,  and  we  have  reason  to  thank  God  and 
take  courage  for  it.  But  it  must  not  therefore  be  merely  a  banquet 
of  self-congratulation.  The  serious,  sobering  problem,  of  which  I 
have  already  spoken,  confronts  us,  which  in  view  of  the  past  may 
well  cause  us  to  mingle  tears  of  penitence  with  our  psalms  of  thanks- 
giving ;  for  first  of  all  we  are  called  to  face  the  solemn  fact — and  it 
is  always  well  to  face  facts  and  so  to  realize  just  where  we  stand — 
the  fact  that  with  all  the  Church  of  God  has  done  (and  it  has  done 
much)  this  world  is.  as  far  as  you  and  I  can  judge,  somewhat  dis- 
tant yet  from  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  Church  has  done  much.  She  has  reached  vast  masses  of 
mankind  with  the  Gospel  of  truth ;  she  has  elevated  the  civilization 


J.  CLEVELAND  CADY,  LL.D. 


HON.  MARTIN  W.  LITTLETON 


REV.  CHAS.  L.  THOMPSON,  D.D.  REV.  ROBT.  S.  MacARTHUR.  D.D.,  LL.D. 


THE  OPEN  DOOR  BEFORE  THE  CHURCHES  161 

of  the  past  and  made  it,  at  least  in  its  trend,  a  Christian  civiliza- 
tion, and  that  in  spite  of  alarming  and  dreadful  inconsistencies  to 
the  contrary.  There  is  to-day  a  Christian  civilization,  nevertheless, 
and  all  that  we  have  to  do  to  realize  this  is  to  place  ourselves  in 
succession  in  the  midst  of  the  city  of  London,  for  instance,  on  the 
other  side  of  the  sea,  or  in  this  city  in  which  we  are  met  to-day,  and 
then  in  contrast  with  that  put  ourselves  in  thought  back  nineteen 
hundred  years  in  the  city  of  Pompeii  or  of  Eome  under  the  Caesars. 
Then  we  shall  realize  indeed  what  a  change  has  taken  place,  that  a 
subtle  leaven  has  been  at  work  all  through  these  ages ;  and  in  spite 
of  all  the  forces  of  evil  combined  there  has  been  a  marvellous  change 
taking  place  and  a  new  civilization  introduced.  But,  my  friends, 
with  all  that  granted,  we  have  only  to  open  our  eyes  this  morning 
on  this  city,  we  have  only  to  consult  the  papers  that  bring  to  us 
the  news  from  other  parts  of  the  world,  to  realize  just  as  vividly 
that  the  process  has  not  yet  been  completed,  that  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world  after  nineteen  hundred  years  of  work  have  not  yet  be- 
come "the  Kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ" ;  that,  indeed, 
as  far  as  human  Judgment  can  forecast  the  future  that  consumma- 
tion is  still  far  distant.  God  grant  it  may  not  be  so  distant  as  it 
sometimes  seems.  And  the  fault  for  this  must  lie  somewhere.  Not 
with  the  Gospel  surely.  The  Story  of  the  Cross  is  just  as  effective 
to-day  as  ever,  and  has  been  all  along,  speaking  to  the  deepest  needs, 
the  sins  and  sorrows  of  humanity.  "The  Lord's  arm  is  not  shortened 
that  it  cannot  save,"  and  wherever  that  Gospel  has  been  preached 
and  human  lives  have  received  it  in  sincerity  it  has  manifested  its 
life-giving  power.  But  there  are  still  vast  multitudes  unreached, 
and  "strongholds  of  sin,  Satan  and  death"  still  unconquered,  even 
where  its  sound  has  been  carried.  And  when  all  has  been  said  we 
cannot  but  know  that  the  fault  and  failure  have  been  with  the 
Church,  the  Christian  Church,  itself. 

The  Church  has  faults,  no  doubt— faults  of  method  and  admin- 
istration largely.  Yes,  and  something  deeper  often  than  these. 
She  has  been  too  academical  and  artificial  and  narrow  in  her  ap- 
proach to  human  lives.  And  this  has  told  against  her  work.  But 
a  paramount,  most  disastrous  and  fundamental  fault  certainly  has 
been — I  cannot  but  feel  it — her  divisions  and  the  spirit  which  lies 
back  of  them,  sectarianism.  That  has  been  the  thing  which  has  at 
the  same  time  uttered  and  ministered  to  self-consciousness  and  self- 
absorption  of  the  several  Churches  until  they  have  well  nigh  for- 
gotten the  supreme  work  which  has  been  given  them  to  do,  the 


162  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

redeeming  of  the  world.  They  have  been  so  engrossed  establishing 
and  justifying  themselves  that  the  greater  campaign  has  made  slow 
progress.  I  tell  you,  my  friends,  that  "States  Rights"  do  not  make 
good  and  wise  statesmen  in  the  nation's  councils,  nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  do  they  make  the  most  trusty  and  efficient  soldiery  on  the 
field.  And  I  cannot  but  believe  that  much  of  the  failure  in  the 
Church's  work  and  advance  has  been  due  to  the  like  spirit  in  her 
midst.  Such  a  spirit  is  weakness  in  itself,  enfeebling  and  unsettling 
convictions  (in  spite  of  loudest  protestations  to  the  contrary),  con- 
victions which  ought  to  be  certain  of  themselves  for  efficient  action. 
Out  of  harmony  with  God's  plans,  it  is  out  of  harmony  with  His 
providence,  which  recognizes  and  blesses  that  which  this  spirit  is 
bound  to  depreciate  and  discountenance.  It  was  not  calm  and  cer- 
tain faith,  believe  me,  which  in  the  days  of  the  Inquisition  lit  the 
fagot  and  burned  the  heretic,  but  a  semi-skepticism  which  did  not 
dare  trust  God  to  safeguard  the  truth  of  which  it  itself  was  not 
sure.  Weak  in  itself,  and  therefore  all  the  more  bigoted,  this  spirit 
of  sectarianism  has  proceeded  further  to  weaken  its  cause  by  a 
division  of  its  forces,  when  all  the  strength  of  complete  concentra- 
tion and  unity  is  needed  to  meet  the  Arch-enemy.  What  earthly 
general  would  be  guilty  of  such  folly  in  leading  his  army  to  battle  ? 
What  earthly  business  would  tolerate  the  waste  and  interference 
which  such  a  method  entails?  And  yet  that  has  been  the  folly  of 
the  Christian  Church.  I  remember  hearing  Dean  Stanley,  the  late 
great  Dean  of  Westminster  Abbey,  when  preaching  a  memorial  ser- 
mon to  Lord  Bishop  Thirlwell  of  St.  David's,  lament  that  wisdom 
had  been  allowed  to  drop  out  of  the  list  of  Christian  graces,  a  grace 
for  which  Bishop  Thirlwell  had  been  noted,  and  suggesting  that 
whereas  Christians  were  constantly  confessing  that  they  were  "mis- 
erable sinners"  it  might  sometimes  be  appropriate  and  wholesome 
for  them  to  confess  on  their  knees  that  they  were  "miserable  fools." 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  suggestion  is  timely  in  connection  with  a 
review  of  the  Church's  method  of  doing  its  work.  With  such  a  stu- 
pendous work,  with  such  resources  and  inspiration  at  its  command, 
and  with  such  a  leader  as  it  claims  to  follow,  it  must  be  its  own 
fault  if  it  allows  petty  party  interests  to  divide  its  strength  and 
impede  its  triumphant  progress;  and  how  petty  all  such  interests 
and  division  are  in  comparison  with  the  fundamental  and  uniting 
bonds !  Thank  God  for  the  dawn  of  the  new  and  more  promising 
day  which  this  great  meeting  betokens.  If  this  gathering  accom- 
plished nothing  more  in  the  way  of  practical  suggestion  than  a  real 


THE  OPEN  DOOR  BEFORE  THE  CHURCHES  163 

"iiiiity  of  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,"  it  will  be  worth  everything 
it  has  cost  in  the  heartening  of  the  Christian  "soldiers  and  servants" 
of  Christ  and  the  impression  which  it  must  make  on  the  forces  of 
evil. 

But  there  is  as  well  practical  and  united  action  already  under 
way  which  is  bringing  Christians  closer  to  one  another  along  various 
lines — in  the  battles  which  are  being  fought  against  intemperance 
and  vice,  in  movements  organized  against  corruption  in  political 
and  civil  life,  in  the  organization  of  public  and  private  charity  and 
good  citizenship,  as  well  as  in  many  other  directions.  And  in  the 
special  domain  of  religion  itself  signs  are  not  wanting  of  this  grow- 
ing consciousness  of  community  of  interest ;  undenominational  con- 
ferences and  classes  for  the  study  of  the  Bible,  and  missionary  work 
at  home  and  in  the  foreign  field,  the  ever  widening  work  of  the 
Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  and  like 
bodies,  all  bear  witness  to  the  changing  order,  while  more  signifi- 
cant than  all  else  is  the  actual  reunion  of  long  divided  sections  of 
Churches  and  Churches  themselves. 

But  my  allotted  time  has  long  since  gone  by.  If  I  have  not 
stuck  closely  to  my  prescribed  theme,  what  I  have  said  leads  up  at 
least  to  that  theme,  and  shows  the  direction  in  which  the  "open 
door  before  the  Christian  Churches"  points;  that  the  door  is  open 
as  never  before  there  can  be  no  doubt,  and  it  is  of  the  Master's 
setting.  "Behold,  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door  and  no  man 
can  shut  it." 


DISCUSSION 
The  Rev.  0.  W.  Powers 


Bishop  McVickar  has  said  that  no  great  public  exigency  has 
called  this  assembly.  Yet  in  all  of  our  minds  I  believe  that  there 
is  a  suggestion  of  a  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  Kingdom  of  G-od 
which  demands  this  meeting.  It  is  a  crisis,  that  the  whole  world 
now  lies  open  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Away  up  on  the  "roof  of 
the  world"  the  last  hermit  nation  has  had  its  doors  pried  open  by 
British  bayonets.  The  power  of  a  heathen  nation  has  been  used 
to  preserve  and  extend  the  "'open  door"  for  the  Gospel  in  Eastern 


164  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Asia.  The  world  lies  open,  and  if  the  Church  does  not  go  forward, 
it  means  defeat.  The  vast  opportunity  before  the  Church,  and 
especially  before  the  Church  in  America,  must  be  seized.  The 
marshaling  of  these  facts  this  morning  shows  how  the  way  has 
been  opened  for  this  movement,  which  means  efficiency  and  progress 
for  the  whole  Church.  We  must  not  be  false  to  the  highest  in- 
terests of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  nor  take  counsel  of  our  fears. 

I  feel  sure  that  we  shall  not  close  this  door,  so  wonderfully 
opened,  by  any  mistakes  that  might  be  made  here.  We  have  come 
together  in  the  spirit  of  the  broadest  fellowship,  and  we  will  do 
nothing  contrary  to  that  spirit.  The  organization  which  we  hope 
will  grow  out  of  this  Conference  must  have  no  narrower  basis 
than  that  set  forth  in  the  invitation  in  response  to  which  we  have 
come.  We  are  not  to  effect  a  unity  of  our  convictions  concerning 
creeds,  but  to  unite  in  a  fellowship  of  love  and  service. 

We  might  imperil  this  movement  by  bringing  to  it  a  spirit 
of  compromise.  There  has  been  none  of  this  apparent  so  far. 
There  is  no  need  for  us  to  surrender  our  convictions  on  matters 
of  faith.  If  we  cannot  come  together  holding  each  for  ourselves 
the  truth  as  God  has  given  us  to  see  it,  we  can  build  no  true  temple 
of  Christian  unity. 

It  would  be  a  fatal  mistake  if  we  should  permit  any  suggestion 
of  a  concentration  of  power.  Cooperation  does  not  mean  control. 
We  are  not  to  take  away  any  responsibility  from  the  Churches,  and 
centre  it  anywhere  outside  of  the  organizations  here  represented. 

But  while  some  mistakes,  if  we  should  make  them,  may  hinder, 
they  cannot  defeat  the  grand  consummation.  It  is  God's  purpose 
that  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Thus  all  the  world  shall  be 
brought  into  unity.  Let  us  look  into  our  own  hearts,  and  realize 
what  has  come  to  us  through  the  blessed  Gospel;  let  us  look 
forward  to  the  opportunity  that  is  ours  this  day;  let  us  look  out 
upon  the  world  with  its  heartache  and  agony  without  the  Christ. 
Then,  realizing  that  we  have  not  yet  done  for  that  world  what  our 
Saviour  expects  of  us,  let  us  look  up  into  His  face,  and  be  melted 
into  a  very  passion  of  love  and  pity,  that  shall  bring  us  into  that 
real  unity  of  spirit  and  purpose  that  shall  avail  for  the  conquest  of 
the  world  and  the  exaltation  of  our  Lord. 


DISCUSSION 
The  Rev.  William  H.   Black,  D.D. 


The  open  door  before  the  Christian  Churches  of  this  country 
and  of  the  world  is  so  manifold,  so  wide  open,  as  almost  to  im- 
press us  with  the  thought  that  there  is  no  door.  Listen  to  this 
catalogue  of  some  of  the  things  that  the  Christian  Churches  in 
cooperation  may  do  in  the  way  of  reform  and  amelioration : 

First.  In  the  interest  of  civic  righteousness,  so  imperative,  so 
inviting,  so  necessary. 

Second.  In  the  interest  of  a  wiser,  more  effective  system  of 
marriage  and  divorce  legislation. 

Third.  In  the  interest  of  temperance  and  the  repression  of 
the  vices  of  intemperance. 

Fourth.  In  the  interest  of  public  honor;  against  corruption; 
inspiring  men  in  high  places  to  wield  these  tremendous  organiza- 
tions of  capital  and  industry  in  the  fear  of  God. 

Again,  in  the  interest  of  prison  reform,  that  these  institutions 
may  be  administered  better  for  the  men  and  better  for  society. 

Again,  in  the  interest  of  public  charity. 

Again,  in  order  to  repel  and  repress  evils. 

Again,  in  order  to  prevent  Sabbath  desecration. 

Again,  in  order  to  eliminate,  in  the  interests  of  society  and 
of  the  commonwealth,  child  labor. 

Again,  in  order  to  prevent  unrighteous  industrial  combina- 
tions, strikes  and  lockouts. 

Again,  in  order  to  institute  reforms  in  the  tenement  dis- 
tricts. 

Again,  in  order  to  repress  and  eliminate  gambling  in  all  its 
vicious  forms. 

Again,  in  order  to  correct  public  amusements  so  that  they 
shall  minister  to  the  social  comfort  and  elevation  and  be  in  har- 
mony with  righteousness. 

Again,  in  order  to  stimulate  activity  in  the  interest  of  the 
elimination  of  the  evils  connected  with  immigration. 

Again,  in  order  to  make  it  impossible  for  such  things  as  Mor- 
monism  to  have  a  controlling  influence  anywhere  in  this  great 
nation. 

165 


166  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Such  is  a  catalogue  of  fifteen  things;  and  now  take  some  of 
the  things  that  are  positive: 

Firstly,  the  open  doors  for  cooperation  among  the  Churches 
in  the  great  field  of  Christian  evangelism,  made  stronger  by  the 
binding  together  of  the  Churches  into  one  harmonious  and  fra- 
ternal movement  for  the  salvation  of  men  and  society. 

Secondly,  comity  in  the  administration  of  our  home  missions. 

Thirdly,  union  in  our  city  mission  work ;  more  effective  because 
more  united  and  cooperative. 

Fourthly,  cooperation  on  the  frontiers,  where  there  not  being 
a  requirement  for  two  Churches,  all  denominations  may  combine 
to  make  one  good  Church. 

Fifthly,  more  care  of  those  allied  organizations  such  as  the 
Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association, 
the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  so  on  and  so  on, 
that  the  Church  may  be  aggressively  and  cooperatively  united 
with  these  in  the  realization  of  the  ends,  with  which  they  have 
been  providentially  burdened. 

Sixthly,  and  this  is  the  problem  that  is  coming  to  us  just  now, 
and  is  imperative,  namely,  that  the  Protestant  Churches  of  this 
country  shall  do  something  to  take  care  of  the  Christian  young 
men  and  women  who  are  in  our  great  State  universities.  This  is 
beginning  to  open,  and  is  important. 

And  seventhly,  in  the  National  Educational  Association,  in 
their  recent  meetings,  one  important  note  that  has  been  sounded 
is  the  return  of  the  Bible  to  the  public  schools.  These  teachers  who 
realize  the  importance  of  that  would  rejoice  to  have  the  cooperation 
of  all  the  Churches. 

And  then,  eighthly,  to  go  across  the  sea,  that  we,  in  our  for- 
eign mission  work,  may  strive  to  build  up  the  Kingdom  of  Christ 
in  its  unity  and  power  rather  than  to  perpetuate  the  divisions  that 
exist  among  us.  That  was  a  great  message  from  the  President  of 
the  United  States  at  the  opening  of  this  meeting.  When  men  in 
high  places  who  do  Christian  thinking  give  us  a  message  like  that 
it  should  come  to  our  hearts  and  have  practical  influence  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  affairs  of  our  Churches. 

Ninthly,  in  the  building  of  seaport  Churches,  that  those  Chris- 
tians who  go  out  from  among  us  and  trade  in  distant  ports  may 
have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them,  as  well  as  to  the  foreign 
people  around  them.   That  is  one  of  the  imperative  necessities  of 


THE  OPEN  DOOR  BEFORE  THE  CHURCHES  167 

this  present  time,  and  cooperation  is  necessary  in  order  to  the 
realization  of  this  end. 

Another  of  these  foreign  interests  claiming  cooperating 
Churches  is  this,  that  we  shall  have  Churches  on  the  continent  of 
Europe,  where  there  are  strange  languages,  that  those  who  speak 
the  American  language  may  have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them 
in  the  great  cities  of  Europe.  Many  a  Christian  is  neglected  be- 
cause he  cannot  understand  the  Gospel,  though  it  is  preached  all 
around  the  place  he  lives.  We  must  together  foster  the  establish- 
ing of  the  Christian  Churches  speaking  the  English  language  in 
Germany,  and  France,  and  Italy  and  elsewhere. 

And  then,  finally — for  this  is  all  I  shall  undertake  to  say  in 
the  ten  minutes  that  have  been  allotted  me — there  should  be 
earnest  cooperation  in  the  carrying  out  of  such  desires  as  were 
expressed  in  the  paper  read  by  Washington  Gladden  at  the  open- 
ing of  this  Conference  this  morning,  that  we  may  cordially  join 
together  in  the  aid  of  the  persecuted  and  downtrodden  wherever 
they  may  be,  and  whether  they  bear  the  name  of  Christ  or  not. 
The  interests  of  the  Jew  and  of  the  Stundists  in  Eussia  are  the 
same. 

We  must  join  forces  to  pass  into  the  open  doors  at  home  and 
abroad. 


DISCUSSION 
The  Rev.  John  F.  Carson,   D.D. 


Mr.  President :  It  is  never  easy  and  it  is  sometimes  hazardous 
to  attempt  an  analysis  of  the  religious  conditions  of  the  times 
of  which  one  is  a  part.  There  is  always  danger  in  making  such 
an  analysis  of  mistaking  an  eddy  for  a  full  current  and  also  of 
being  mistaken  both  as  to  the  nature  and  direction  of  the  tributary 
streams.  It  is  the  habit  of  most  of  us  to  allow  our  local  condi- 
tions to  color  our  view  of  the  whole  field.  What  Lord  Salisbury 
said  to  the  critics  of  his  world-compelling  diplomacy,  "Study 
larger  maps,"  is  good  advice  for  all  of  us  to  take  when  we  con- 
sider the  movements  at  work  for  the  advancement  of  the  King- 
dom of  Jesus  Christ.  We  must  study  the  spiritual  movement,  not 
in  its  local  and  transient  aspect,  but  in  its  world-wide  and  age- 
long sweep. 


168  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

In  his  able  paper  of  this  raoming,  Dr.  Ward  told  us  that  the 
two  notes  which  are  being  struck  constantly  and  clearly  in  the 
Church  of  to-day  are  union  and  evangelism.  Our  hearts  re- 
sponded with  a  good  old  fashioned  Methodist  "Amen"  to  that 
utterance.  "Union  and  Evangelism" — it  might  be  put  in  this 
way,  "Union  in  or  through  Evangelism."  In  Evangelism,  an 
Evangelism  that  rings  true  to  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ  and  to 
that  cross  as  the  symbol  of  the  substitutionary  sacrifice  of  the 
Son  of  God  for  the  salvation  of  men,  is  the  only  sure  basis  of 
union.  On  this  basis  all  Churches  will  come  together.  There  was 
a  signal  illustration  of  this  in  the  recent  evangelistic  movement 
in  Minneapolis.  A  Presbyterian  minister,  greatly  honored  and 
beloved  in  all  the  Churches,  Dr.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  occupied  the 
pulpit  of  the  leading  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  that  city, 
and  occupied  it  on  the  invitation  of  the  Bishop  of  Minnesota,  who 
escorted  him  into  the  church.  That  incident,  and  many  others, 
assure  us  that  to-day  men  are  willing  that  the  mould  should  be 
broken  in  order  that  the  sweet  fragrance  of  the  Gospel  ointment 
may  pour  forth  and  permeate  the  lives  of  men. 

Events  with  prophecies  conspire, 
To  raise  our  faith,  our  zeal  inspire. 

What  are  the  events  which  are  in  themselves  prophecies? 
What  are  the  elements  which  make  "the  open  door"  before  the 
Church  ?  The  previous  speakers  of  this  morning  have  dwelt  prin- 
cipally on  the  signs  within  the  Church.  Let  me  call  your  atten- 
tion to  a  few  things  outside  the  Church  which  indicate  the  wide 
open  door  that  is  before  the  Church. 

And,  first,  I  would  mention  the  new  emphasis  that  the  thought 
of  the  day  is  putting  on  the  spiritual.  Materialism,  as  a  specula- 
tion, is  almost,  if  not  quite  dead,  however  secular  the  interests 
of  men  may  continue  to  be  and  however  material  their  ambitions 
and  activities.  The  materialism  which  held  sway  and  was  pop- 
ular a  half  century  ago  is  now  out  of  date,  as  old  fashioned  as  the 
garments  of  fifty  years  ago.  The  swing  of  thought  and  of  in- 
terest is  so  far  away  from  materialism  that  psychology  and  psy- 
chical studies  have  become  almost  the  fad  of  our  day.  Theosophy, 
Christian  Science  and  such  like  cults  are  but  the  wild  and  worth- 
less extravagances  which  accompany  the  swing  of  thought  and  of 
interest  away  from  the  material  and  unto  the  spiritual.       Such 


THE  OPEN  DOOR  BEFORE  THE  CHURCHES  169 

systems  as  these  find  a  welcome  in  human  hearts  because  of  the 
emphasis  which  they  put  upon  the  fact  of  the  spiritual.  They 
tell  men  to  find  the  spiritual  reality  within  themselves.  It  is 
deceptive  teaching  and  deluding.  But  the  very  emphasis  which  is 
thus  put  upon  the  spiritual  opens  a  wide  door  to  the  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ,  a  door  not  for  criticism  and  not  for  censure,  but  a 
door  for  teaching  and  service.  It  is  the  opportunity  and  the 
obligation  of  the  Church  to  direct  the  drift  of  modem  thought 
towards  the  spiritual  reality  in  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  alone  suffi- 
cient and  satisfying. 

A  second  sign  which  is  full  of  encouragement  for  the  Church 
of  to-day  is  the  new  and  wide  ethical  awakening  in  our  land  and 
throughout  the  world.  A  great  wave  of  genuine  reform  has  swept 
over  our  commercial,  social  and  political  life.  There  is  a  universal 
demand  to-day  for  the  play  of  righteousness  in  the  lives  and  in 
the  work  of  men.  In  commercial  life  men  are  demanding  as 
never  before  that  a  man  shall  be  honest  in  the  administration 
of  the  sacred  trusts  that  are  committed  to  him.  In  the  so- 
cial world  of  to-day  is  a  strong  demand  for  the  play  of  the 
pure  in  all  our  life;  the  divorce  scandal  is  being  resisted,  polygamy 
is  being  opposed  and  Mormonism  deposed  from  power,  and  in  our 
amusements  men  are  demanding  a  purer  standard,  even  in  New 
York  City  the  police  authorities  recently  prohibited  a  play  that 
was  suggestively  impure. 

In  our  political  life  there  is  almost  a  universal  demand  for 
the  play  of  decency  and  for  the  overrule  of  all  bossism.  In  Mis- 
souri that  reform  sent  some  officials  to  jail.  In  Minneapolis  that 
reform  elected  as  Mayor  a  man  who  was  pledged  to  close  the 
saloons  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  on  the  past  three  Sabbaths  eveiy 
saloon  and  drinking  place  in  Minneapolis  has  been  absolutely 
closed.  In  Philadelphia,  imder  the  leadership  of  the  Church  and 
of  such  churchmen  as  the  one  who  honors  this  convention  by  his 
presence  and  services  this  morning  (Mr.  John  H.  Converse),  the 
people  rose  in  their  majesty  and  morality  and  drove  from  official 
position  that  whole  company  of  men  who  were  banded  together 
under  the  black  flag  of  piracy.  In  ^^ew  York  City— well,  we  had 
an  election  the  other  day.  There  is  some  uncertainty  as  to  the 
outcome  of  that  election;  but  one  result  is  assured — that  election 
has  been  a  demonstration  to  the  politicians  of  all  parties  that 
the  people  of  Greater  New  York  are  determined  to  overthrow 


170  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

every  politico-coramercial  organization  in  which  men  are  banded 
together  with  no  other  creed  than  greed,  and  for  no  other  purpose 
than  to  reap  rich  harvests  from  the  black  fields  of  vice  and  crime. 
New  York  is  saying  to  America  to-day,  "We  are  done  with  that 
sort  of  thing  in  our  political  life." 

This  uprising  of  the  people  against  unrighteousness  and  pol- 
itical oppression  is  not  confined  to  America.  It  is  world-wide. 
Even  in  far  away,  bleeding  Eussia  the  people,  long  crushed  under 
the  iron  heel  of  oppression,  are  rising  against  the  power  that  has 
worked  to  crush  their  life  and  liberties.  The  heart  throb  of  the 
people  of  Eussia  finds  expression  in  the  cry  which  was  made  only 
yesterday — Poland  for  the  Poles,  Finland  for  the  Finns,  Caucasus 
for  the  Caucasians. 

This  uprising  of  the  people  opens  a  door  for  the  Church  and 
the  Church  must  enter  with  her  constructive  message  and  work  in 
order  to  prevent  the  rule  of  Mobocracy  in  our  social  world  and 
in  order  to  make  permanent  and  effective  the  new  ethical  awak- 
ening. The  ethical  is  strong  and  abiding  only  as  it  is  based  upon 
and  backed  by  the  spiritual.  The  opportunity  of  the  Church  in 
this  ethical  awakening  is  to  emphasize  the  spiritual  as  the  basis 
and  the  inspiration  of  all  honesty  and  honor.  The  Church  can 
do  no  better  service  for  humanity  than  to  emphasize  the  fact  that 
the  revival  that  is  needed  to-day  is  a  revival  of  downright  old 
fashioned  honesty  among  men. 

A  third  sign — ^but  the  chairman  informs  me  that  I  have  but 
one  minute — I  cannot  therefore  dwell  upon  the  fact  that  the 
spirit  of  evangelism  which  controls  the  Church  to-day  opens  to 
her  a  wide  door  of  service  in  soul  saving  and  society  redeeming. 
This  was  the  theme  on  which  I  intended  speaking — but  my  time 
is  gone.  Eesponding  to  the  fascinating  invitation  which  is  given 
her  by  all  these  open  doors  which  have  been  mentioned  this 
morning,  and  entering  through  them  into  the  uses  of  humanity, 
the  Church  will  be  effective  in  the  introduction  of  that  brother- 
hood for  which  the  race  has  been  longing,  a  brotherhood  made 
up,  not  of  the  whims  of  a  lawless  individualism,  or  the  tyrannies 
of  a  communistic  socialism,  but  of  the  love  and  the  loyalty  of 
redeemed  and  regenerated  men — a  brotherhood  that  shall  faith- 
fully image  forth  the  love  of  God  for  man  and  the  love  of  man 
for  man — the  New  Jerusalem,  let  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,, 
in  which  Jesus  is  King. 


A   UNITED    CHURCH  AND    RELIGIOUS 
EDUCATION 


INTRODUCTORY    ADDRESS 


The  Rev.  J.  H.  Garrison,  LL.D. 


Our  subject  this  afternoon  embraces  two  of  the  largest  con- 
ceptions and  ruling  ideas  of  modem  times,  namely,  Christain 
unity  and  religious  education.  The  unity  of  the  world,  the  unity 
of  law,  the  unity  of  the  race,  the  unity  of  all  knowledge — these 
are  the  sublime  conceptions  to  which  the  modern  mind  is  led  by 
all  the  revelations  of  science  and  of  history.  We  are  indebted, 
however,  to  Jesus  Christ  for  the  idea  of  Christian  unity — a  spirit- 
ual brotherhood  of  believers  bound  together  by  their  mutual 
allegiance  to  Him  who  revealed  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man.  Perhaps  there  is  no  measure  of  Christ's 
greatness  that  is  more  striking  and  impressive  than  the  fact  that 
in  an  age  of  bitter  hatreds,  narrow  provincialisms,  and  partition 
walls,  among  men  "hateful  and  hating  one  another,"  He  came 
with  a  mission  to  all,  died  for  all,  offered  pardon  to  all,  and  es- 
tablished a  Church  for  all,  which  was  to  be  the  spiritual  temple 
of  a  redeemed  and  unified  humanity,  and  prayed  that  its  mem- 
bers might  be  one  as  He  and  His  Father  are  one. 

Education  is  the  divine  process  of  developing  a  human  being 
along  the  lines  of  his  native  powers  and  potentialities  until  he 
has  become  what  God  in  His  creation  designed  him  to  be.  Ee- 
ligious  education  is  the  training  of  the  human  soul  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  highest  things — its  relations  to  God  and  to  its  feUow- 
men.  All  God's  revelations  in  all  dispensations,  and  all  institu- 
tions which  He  has  established  among  men — the  family,  the 
Church,  and  the  State — have  for  their  purpose  the  moral 
and  religious  education  of  mankind.  What  is  the  relation  of 
these  two  great  ideas— a  united  Church  and  religious  education? 

When  Jesus  prayed  that  his  followers  might  be  one,  m  order 
that  the  world  might  Relieve,  He  indicated  the  relation  between  a 
united  Church  and  the  very  first  step  in  religious  education, 
which  is  faith  in  Christ,  the  world's  greatest  Teacher.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  He  regarded  the  relation  of  the  one  to  the  other  as  very 
vital.  No  other  one  fact  would  have  such  an  impressive  influence 
on  the  faith  of  men,  and  hence  in  religious  education,  as  a  united 
Church.  We  Protestants,  in  our  love  of  liberty,  have  probably 
underestimated  the  value  of  unity,  as  a  divine  factor  in  the  relig- 
ious education  of  mankind.    This  great  assembly,  however,  rep- 

173 


174  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

resenting  as  it  does  the  leading  religious  bodies  of  Protestantism  in 
this  country,  convened  to  study  the  problem  of  a  closer  unification 
and  cooperation  of  Christians  in  order  that  the  Church  may  do 
its  work  in  the  world  more  effectively,  is  evidence  of  the  fact  that 
we  are  coming  to  a  recognition  of  the  place  and  power  of  the 
united  Church  in  giving  new  potency  and  direction  to  all  the 
methods  and  processes  of  religious  education. 

We  may  not  be  prepared  at  present  to  consummate  that  unity 
of  our  religious  forces  which  is  contemplated  in  the  prayer  of 
our  divine  Lord,  when  He  prayed  that  His  followers  might  be 
one,  even  as  He  and  the  Father  are  one;  but  let  none  of  us  say 
that  because  such  union  is  impracticable  now,  it  will  therefore 
forever  be  impracticable.  Such  a  Convention  as  this  which  is  now 
here  assembled  would  have  been  impracticable  and  impossible 
even  ten  years  ago.  The  Lord  Jesus  is  the  Head  of  the  Church, 
and  let  us  put  no  limitations  to  His  divine  power.  If,  in  His 
infinite  wisdom,  He  sees  that  a  united  Church — a  Church  so 
united  as  to  be  unhampered  by  its  denominational  divisions  in  fra- 
ternal cooperation  and  mutual  Christian  fellowship — is  necessary 
to  accomplish  His  divine  purposes  in  the  world  in  evangelizing  the 
pagan  nations  and  in  overthrowing  the  gigantic  evils  which  have 
become  intrenched  even  in  our  Christian  civilization,  who  are  we 
that  we  should  withstand  God?  Our  duty  is,  my  brethren,  to  put 
ourselves  completely  under  the  leadership  of  Jesus  Christ  to  be 
moulded,  directed,  and  used  by  Him  for  the  accomplishment  of 
His  sublime  mission  in  the  world.  Where  He  leads  we  can  afford 
to  follow. 

But  is  there  not  a  degree  of  unity  already  attained  by  us 
which  finds  no  adequate  expression  in  any  organization  which  has 
yet  been  formed,  or  in  any  form  of  joint  cooperation  to  oppose 
those  things  to  which  we  are  all  opposed  and  to  bring  about 
such  reforms  as  we  all  desire  ?  That  there  is  such  unity,  and  that 
it  should  have  a  practical  manifestation  such  as  the  world  can 
see,  in  cooperative  movements  for  the  world's  betterment,  is 
the  meaning  and  purpose  of  this  magnificent  assembly. 

It  is  with  great  pleasure  that,  as  chairman  of  this  session,  I 
invite  your  attention  to  the  discussion  that  is  to  follow,  and  not 
without  hope  that  it  will  help  us  to  a  clearer  understanding  of 
the  relation  which  exists  between  these  two  leading  ideas  of  our 
modern  life — Christian  unity  and  Christian  education — and  so 
hasten  the  fulfilment  of  our  Lord's  prayer — "That  they  all  may 
be  one!" 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    IN    THE    HOME 


The  Rev.  George  W.  Richards,  D.D. 


The  normal  man  lives  his  life  in  the  home,  the  school,  the 
Church  and  the  State.  These  social  organisms  are  rooted  in  the 
human  constitution,  and  in  them  men  are  to  work  out  their  divine 
destiny.  The  home  is  first  both  in  time  and  in  importance.  It  is 
the  unit  of  the  social  order  and  has  specific  functions  to  perform 
in  the  education  of  the  race. 

The  significance  of  the  home  is  now  more  recognized  than  ever 
before.  Jesus  gave  it  the  proper  place  in  the  religious  life.  He 
was  Himself  an  obedient  Child.  He  attended  a  wedding,  and  was 
entertained  as  a  guest  at  Bethany.  He  made  the  social  life  the 
sphere  for  the  unfolding  of  the  religious  life.  The  home,  not  the 
monastery,  is  the  school  of  saints.  The  sociologist,  the  pedagogue, 
the  ethicist  and  the  evangelist  unite  in  magnifying  the  influence  of 
the  family.  Mulford  said :  "Sociology  is  the  coming  science,  and 
the  family  holds  the  key  to  it !"  No  less  significant  is  the  state- 
ment that  "a  child's  first  teacher  is  the  one  who  loves  it  first." 
Martesen  wrote:  "The  family  forms  the  commencement  and  the 
foundation  of  the  moral  world."  Jerry  McAuley  made  an  almost 
startling  assertion  when  he  said :  "Far  be  it  from  me  to  limit  the 
grace  of  God,  but  I  never  yet  knew  a  man  to  be  permanently  re- 
claimed who  did  not  have  a  good  mother."  In  his  study  of  revivals 
Davenport  concludes  that  "a  sound  family  religion  furnishes  the 
only  sufiicient  basis  for  healthy  evangelism." 

From  these  testimonies  it  appears  that  what  men  have  always 
felt  instinctively  and  Christ  has  taught,  science  corroborates, — the 
primacy  of  the  home  in  the  development  of  the  individual  and  the 
social  life. 

We  can  only  understand  the  part  which  the  home  is  to  take 
in  religious  education  when  we  have  a  definite  idea  of  what  re- 
ligious education  is.  Since  religion  embraces  not  only  a  part  of 
man's  life  but  has  to  do  with  the  whole  of  it,  religious  education 
must  include  the  whole  educational  system.  Protestantism  does 
not  draw  a  line  between  the  religious  and  the  secular.  Human  life 
in  all  its  phases  is  sacred,  and  all  its  institutions  are  divine.  The 
only  line  of  division  is  that  between  the  Christian  and  the  un- 
christian, the  good  and  the  bad.  By  living  in  the  various  social 
organisms  into  which  we  are  born  we  are  to  be  educated  for  the 

175 


176  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

kingdom  of  love,  righteousness  and  freedom.  Each  one  of  these 
organisms  is  of  God  and  has  its  own  peculiar  place  in  the  divine 
plan  of  education. 

Dr.  Butler  defines  education  as  "a  gradual  adjustment  to  the 
spiritual  inheritance."  The  inheritance  is  fivefold,  viz. :  The  scien- 
tific, the  literary,  the  esthetic,  the  politico-social,  and  the  religious. 
If  we  accept  this  division  we  shall  find  the  home  to  be  specially 
adapted  to  lead  men  into  the  last  two  fonns  of  inheritance — the 
politico-social  and  the  religious.  For  a  home  may  be  a  good  home 
without  literary,  scientific  or  esthetic  culture,  but  it  cannot  be  a 
home  at  all  without  making  or  marring  the  social  and  religious  life 
of  its  members.  In  these  respects  it  wields  an  influence  different  in 
degree,  if  not  in  kind,  from  that  of  the  school,  Church  or  State. 
It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  these  latter  institutions  also 
have  far-reaching  social  and  religious  value. 

We  are  now  confronted  by  a  second  question.  What  portion 
of  the  religious  inheritance  is  the  home  to  transmit?  The  answer 
requires  a  definition  of  religion.  It  is  presupposed  that  the  only 
form  of  religion  which  is  considered  by  this  assembly  is  Chris- 
tianity. It  would  not  be  prudent  to  attempt  a  definition  of  the 
essence  of  Christianity  at  this  time.  That  problem  seems  to  have 
taken  in  our  day  the  place  of  the  sacramental  question  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  in  being  a  stone  of  stumbling  and  a  rock  of  offense. 
When,  however,  we  approach  Christianity  from  the  human  or  moral 
side,  it  is  not  so  difficult  to  find  common  ground  upon  which  the 
Church  universal  may  stand.  Jesus  defined  it  as  love — love  of 
God  and  love  of  men.  Paul  described  it  as  righteousness,  and 
peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  James  made  pure  religion  and 
undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father  consist  in  visiting  the  father- 
less and  widows  and  keeping  oneself  unspotted  from  the  world. 
Sabbatier  said  it  is  "a  filial  feeling  toward  God  and  a  fraternal 
feeling  toward  men."  The  home  is  jiot  a  school  of  theology.  It  is 
not  to  teach  Church  history  nor  dogmatics.  It  is  a  school,  so  far 
as  it  is  a  school,  for  training  in  Christian  living.  Whatsoever 
things  are  honorable,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things 
are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  lovely  are  to  be  taught  in  the  home. 
The  child  should  breathe  in  the  atmosphere  of  love,  joy,  peace,  long 
suffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness,  meekness  and  temper- 
ance. 

The  work  of  education  in  the  family  must  be  done  in  two  ways ; 
first,  by  influence,  and  second,  by  instruction. 


REV.  WASHINGTON   GLADDEN,  D.D..  LL.D.        KT.  KEV.  WILLIAM  NEILSON  McVICKAR,  S.T.D. 


REV.  O.  W.  POWERS,  D.D. 


REV.  WM.  H.  BLACK,  D.D. 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION    IN    THE    HOME  177 

I.  By  virtue  of  its  constitution,  the  home  teaches  religion.  In 
it  the  three  great  factors  which  work  together  in  the  making  of 
manhood  cooperate.  They  are  heredity,  environment  and  person- 
ality. These  forces  become  concrete  by  being  embodied  in  the  liv- 
ing personalities  of  the  family.  They  have  subtle  power  over  its 
members.  If  heredity  or  environment  is  to  be  modified  or  over- 
come, it  must  be  done  largely  by  the  force  of  personality  in  the 
family.  In  the  domestic  circle  personality  has  free  scope,  and  is 
able,  by  reason  of  the  mutual  confidence  which  exists  and  the  plas- 
tic condition  of  childhood,  to  do  its  greatest  work.  The  natural 
relations  into  which  the  members  of  a  family  enter  call  forth  the 
essentially  Christian  virtues.  Compare  the  home  with  the  school 
or  the  State,  and  the  difference  will  at  once  appear.  In  the  school 
you  find  the  relations  of  a  teacher,  a  pupil  and  a  classmate.  In 
the  State  you  have  the  executive,  the  citizen  and  the  fellow-citizen. 
These  relations  have  educational  value.  They  are  indispensable  in 
character  building.  In  the  home,  however,  you  have  husband  and 
wife,  parent  and  child,  brother  and  sister,  kindred  and  friends. 
In  the  family  relations  a  part  of  human  nature  is  touched  which 
neither  the  school  nor  the  State  can  reach.  In  passing  from  the 
former  to  the  latter  you  pass  from  the  sphere  of  love  to  that  of  law. 
The  one  draws,  the  other  drives. 

Marriage  itself  rests  upon  love,  chastity  and  service.  The  par- 
ental and  filial  relations  require  obedience,  reverence,  self-assertion 
and  self-sacrifice.  The  ethical  principles  which  are  essential  for  a 
prosperous  State  and  a  live  Church  are  in  a  measure  of  necessity 
inculcated  in  the  home. 

One  of  the  primary  purposes  of  Christian  nurture  is  to  make 
the  child  realize  the  presence  of  God  in  his  life  and  in  the  world 
about  him.  God's  presence  may  be  particularly  manifest  in  the 
family  life.  Here  love  prevails,  the  spirit  of  truth  rules,  noble 
aspirations  are  kindled.  These  are  for  the  child  a  form  of  the 
divine  presence  and  an  interpretation  of  the  character  of  God.  The 
father's  love  is  the  nearest  approach  on  earth  to  the  love  of  God. 
Jesus  reveals  the  goodness  of  the  heavenly  Father  by  comparing 
it  to  the  love  of  an  earthly  father.  "Or  what  man  is  there  among 
you  who  if  his  son  shall  ask  him  for  a  loaf  will  give  him  a  stone ; 
or  if  he  shall  ask  him  for  a  fish  will  give  him  a  stone?  *  *  * 
How  much  more  shall  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  give  good 
gifts  to  them  that  ask  Him?"  A  mother's  sympatliy  typifies  that 
of  God.     "As  one  whom  his  mother  comforteth,  so  will  I  comfort 


178  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

you."  (Isa. :  66,  13.)  The  joys  and  sorrows,  the  births  and  deaths, 
the  successes  and  failures  which  are  inevitable  in  the  family  are 
occasions  by  which  men  are  taught  the  truth  of  Christ. 

It  is  not  a  mere  accident  that  the  figures  for  Jesus'  revelation 
are  taken  from  the  home.  The  Christian  name  for  God  is  "Father." 
Men  are  called  "sons  of  God."  Eeligion  is  fellowship  between  the 
heavenly  Father  and  His  children,  between  men  and  brethren. 
Even  the  natural  home  is  a  preparation  for  the  higher  fellowship 
of  the  kingdom.  The  Christian  home  is  the  highest  form  of  the 
kingdom  in  the  present  dispensation.  The  home,  accordingly,  edu- 
cates men  in  religion  by  virtue  of  what  it  is,  by  the  environment 
which  it  creates,  and  by  the  requirements  which  it  makes  on  the 
personal  life  of  its  members. 

II.  The  home  is  to  educate  not  simply  by  influence  but  also 
by  direct  instruction.  Here  we  meet  with  the  most  difficult  prob- 
lem of  the  Church  in  this  generation.  It  is  universally  conceded 
that  family  worship,  the  teaching  of  the  Bible,  and  the  practice  of 
daily  prayer  have  inestimable  value  for  the  development  of  the 
Christian  life.  The  parent  can  teach  also  with  an  authority  which 
neither  the  pastor  nor  the  teacher  can  have.  The  disposition  of 
reverence  and  sympathy  for  religious  matters  in  parents  is  readily 
communicated  to  the  child.  Cordial  cooperation  in  the  work  of  the 
congregation  will  attach  the  child's  heart  to  the  Church.  The  hum- 
ble acceptance  of  adversity  and  prosperity  as  from  God,  the  patient 
bearing  of  burdens,  the  sublime  optimism  of  faith  will  determine 
the  child's  attitude  toward  God.  The  child  should  be  impressed 
with  the  conviction  that  he  is  a  child  of  God  and  brought  up  in  the 
faith  and  hope  of  the  Gospel.  Mr.  Moody  believed  that  "we  might 
train  children  that  they  should  be  converted  so  early  that  they  can't 
tell  when  they  were  converted."  He  reached  the  conclusion  of 
Bushnell,  who  occupied  a  different  standpoint,  that  "a  child  is  to 
grow  up  a  Christian  and  never  know  himself  as  being  otherwise." 

A  number  of  obstacles  interfere  with  the  educational  work  of 
the  home.  Even  Christian  homes  are  under  the  influence  of  false 
standards  of  life.  There  is  a  wide  difference  between  the  Gospel 
proclaimed  from  the  pulpit  and  the  spirit  which  shapes  the  am- 
bitions of  the  home.  The  contradiction  between  profession  and 
practice  is  nowhere  so  evident  as  in  the  privacy  of  tlie  family,  and 
is  instinctively  felt  by  the  children.  Parents  have  little  enthu- 
siasm for  the  practical  training  of  children  in  Christian  ideals. 
They  are  captivated  by  the  subtle  materialism  of  the  age.     The 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION    IN    THE    HOME  179 

temporal  prospects  of  children  are  of  greater  concern  to  parents 
than  their  eternal  welfare.  Love  of  money,  pleasure,  position  and 
display  have  superseded  the  love  of  Christ.  Success  is  put  above 
character,  gold  above  goodness.  Many  a  Christian  mother  and 
some  preachers  of  the  Gospel  would  not  urge  their  sons  to  enter 
the  ministry  because  the  sacrifice  is  too  great.  Men  confess  the 
Cross,  sing  it,  and  glory  in  it,  but  shrink  from  laying  it  on  the 
backs  of  their  children.  The  spirit  of  the  home  must  be  trans- 
formed before  it  can  take  effective  part  in  Christian  education. 

Again,  many  evangelical  churches  have  followed  the  emotional 
and  revivalistic  system  of  religion  to  such  an  extent  that  the  edu- 
cational system  has  fallen  into  disuse.  By  implication  religious 
education  of  children  is  worthless.  The  child  is  excluded  from  the 
Church  or  the  kingdom  until  the  sign  of  election  is  given  or  the 
travail  of  an  instantaneous  conversion  is  experienced.  Even  in  the 
Churches  where  the  Catechetical  methods  are  in  vogue  and  children 
are  to  be  brought  up  in  Christ  from  infancy,  family  training  is 
neglected  and  religious  instruction  left  to  pastors,  teachers  and 
schools.  A  false  reliance  on  the  Sacraments  and  ordinances  of  the 
•Church  has  minimized  the  importance  of  religious  instruction.  The 
•day  has  come  when  Protestants  ought  to  unite  in  the  advocacy  of 
the  educational  system  of  religion.  It  is  a  revival  of  original 
Protestantism,  and  by  no  means  an  innovation.  It  is  vindicated 
not  only  by  long  experiment,  but  by  the  latest  results  of  psychology 
and  pedagogy.  The  Holy  Spirit  works  through  truth.  The  Grace 
of  God  is  the  truth  of  Christ  come  to  life  in  the  Conscience  of  men. 
The  Sacraments  are  only  grace-bearing  when  they  are  truth-bear- 
ing. The  appreciation  of  these  fundamental  principles  will  awaken 
the  sense  of  responsibility  in  parents  for  the  Christian  training  of 
children  as  well  as  convince  them  that  their  work  is  not  a  fruitless 
task  which  the  Spirit  of  God  will  set  aside  by  a  conversion  that  is 
far  more  magical  than  miraculous  and  more  unnatural  than  super- 
natural. 

Social  and  industrial  conditions  also  are  serious  hindrances. 
Parents  may  be  willing  to  train  children  in  religion,  but  they  have 
neither  the  time,  ability  nor  courage.  In  the  struggle  for  life,  men 
and  women  are  hard  pressed  for  time.  Even  the  Sabbath  is  invaded 
by  industrial,  social  or  ecclesiastical  pursuits.  The  family  circle 
around  the  fireside,  discussion  of  religious  topics,  and  family  prayer 
are  impracticable  in  many  Christian  households.  The  minds  of 
parents  and  children  are  so  absorbed  by  the  current  topics  of  the 


180  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

day  that  religious  matters  are  rarely  approached,  and  only  with 
great  difiBdence. 

How  may  these  obstacles  be  removed?  The  sacredness  and  the 
privacy  by  which  the  home  is  hedged  in  make  it  all  the  more  diffi- 
cult to  remedy  its  defects.  It  cannot  be  done  by  legislation  nor  by 
new  organization.  Help  must  come  from  the  Church  and  from  the 
school.  By  the  "foolishness  of  preaching"  the  general  tone  of  the 
family  life  may  be  improved.  The  ideals  of  parents  in  reference 
to  the  purpose  of  life  must  be  Christianized.  The  responsibilities 
of  the  home  for  the  religious  development  of  children  should  be 
laid  upon  the  hearts  of  men.  Proclamation,  agitation  and  educa- 
tion will  arouse  the  conscience  and  stir  men  to  action.  On  this 
point  Protestantism  can  unite,  and  with  the  spiritual  weapons  of 
the  Gospel  reclaim  the  home  as  a  potent  factor  for  religious  edu- 
cation. 

Personal  influence  is  indispensable.  The  pastor  by  wise  direc- 
tion can  help  parents  do  what  they  actually  desire  to  do,  but  for 
want  of  method  and  courage  have  left  undone.  Forms  of  prayer 
for  use  in  the  family,  selections  from  the  Scriptures,  catechisms, 
and  religious  literature  will  aid  the  inexperienced  and  diffident 
parent.  The  cottage  prayer  meeting  may  open  the  way  into  the 
home  for  the  family  altar.  The  Sunday  School,  through  its  home 
department,  may  be  made  an  agency  for  reviving  interest  in  Chris- 
tian nurture. 

While  the  spirit  and  the  content  of  religious  education  come 
from  the  Church,  it  is  the  mission  of  the  school  to  work  out  a 
method  of  teaching  based  on  psychological  and  pedagogical  prin- 
ciples. Instinct  has  generally  guided  mothers  in  the  rearing  of 
children,  yet  instinct  is  to  be  turned  into  a  rational  course  of  ac- 
tion in  the  light  of  scientific  investigation.  The  thoughtful  parent 
will  have  an  open  mind  for  suggestions  from  the  pedagogue  and 
psychologist. 

Whatever  methods  are  used,  we  need  the  patience  of  the  saints 
in  this  work.  In  spiritual  and  moral  matters  we  should  be  satisfied 
if  men  progress  an  inch  a  century.  Family  customs  cannot  be 
changed  in  a  moment  nor  the  life  of  communities  in  a  day. 

Behind  the  question  of  religious  education  in  the  home  is 
the  still  greater  problem  of  saving  the  home  itself.  The  tenden- 
cies which  threaten  its  very  being  are  legion.  Its  physical  bases  are 
unsound.  Parents  are  impure.  Tainted  blood  has  been  flowing 
through  generations  of  vicious  ancestors.     Conception  and  preg- 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    AND    THE    8UNDAY    SCHOOL  181 

nancy  are  accidents.  Economic  conditions  interfere  with  a  normal 
home  life.  A  large  proportion  of  men  and  women  do  not  have  the 
money  necessary  for  the  rearing  of  a  family.  The  gravitation  of 
population  toward  the  cities  is  unfavorable  to  domestic  happiness. 
It  is  hard  to  have  a  home  in  crowded  tenements  or  in  gilded  palaces. 
Children  are  not  wanted  in  hotels,  apartment  houses,  ocean  liners 
and  summer  resorts.  With  time  divided  between  society  and  busi- 
ness, men  and  women  have  no  room  for  religious  instruction.  Chil- 
dren are  given  into  the  care  of  nurses,  governesses  and  school  teach- 
ers. Individualism  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  Protestantism,  but  a 
one-sided  emphasis  of  it  has  helped  to  disintegrate  families.  The 
increasing  wealth  and  luxury  of  our  country  wean  men  away  from 
the  enjoyment  of  the  simple  pleasures  of  the  home. 

These  statements  raise  problems  for  the  sociologist,  the  states- 
man and  the  reformer.  These  men  have,  under  God's  guidance,  an 
important  work  to  do.  Their  work  is  not  any  less  divine  because 
their  methods  are  scientific.  Still,  the  mountain  which  rises  before 
Zerubbabel  must  become  a  plain,  "Not  by  might  nor  by  power,  but 
by  my  spirit,  saith  the  Lord." 

The  spirit  which  makes  a  Christian  home  must  come  from  Christ 
through  His  Church.  Science  is  to  give  wise  direction  to  the  spirit 
of  love  and  service.  Then  the  home  will  become  what  it  ought  to  be, 
viz.:  a  scientifically  religious  factor  in  the  Christian  education 
of  men. 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    AND    THE    SUNDAY 
SCHOOL 


Hon.  John  Wanamaker 


The  Sunday  School  is  commonly  understood  to  be  a  school  of 
religious  instruction  devoted  to  the  education  of  children  and 
youth.  Its  use  of  the  Sabbath  Day  for  its  meetings  naturally 
settled  its  name,  but  the  name  alone  does  not  constitute  a  re- 
ligious school.  It  is  a  religious  school,  however,  because  of  its 
origin  and  its  single  purpose,  to  inculcate  a  knowledge  of  God 
that  thereby  there  may  be  brought  about  a  personal  relationship 
between  man  and  his  Maker. 


182  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  Sunday  School  is  differentiated  from  the  secular  school, 
in  that  it  does  not  tax  the  public  for  support  and  in  that  its  order 
is  in  part  religious  worship,  uses  one  text  book,  and  that  the  high- 
est, and  in  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Bible  aims  definitely  to  in- 
fluence the  scholar  in  a  religious  life  and  build  him  up  Christian 
character.  By  this  statement  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  the 
supporters  of  the  Sunday  School  hold  to  a  belief  that  other 
schools  and  institutions  of  learning  are  not  engaged  in  forming 
character — no  fair  minded  person  could  have  such  an  opinion. 
It  is,  however,  a  fact  that  no  public  school  can  properly  include 
culture  along  any  religious  lines;  therefore  the  Sunday  School 
is  not  a  superfluous  or  visionary  work,  but  an  absolutely  necessary 
adjunct  in  completing  the  education  of  all  who  become  its 
scholars. 

But  above  all  other  facts  there  stands  a  warrant  for  the 
Sunday  School  in  the  direct  revelation  of  God  in  the  Holy  Bible, 
whereby  it  is  appointed  that  the  young  as  well  as  the  old  are  to 
be  instructed  in  His  Word — that  the  child  is  a  part  of  God's 
family,  born  to  the  privilege  of  vital  union  with  the  Church  and 
entitled  to  a  right  of  schooling  in  the  laws  and  love  of  God. 
Ample  proofs  exist  that  it  was  God's  plan  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world  for  the  young  as  well  as  the  more  mature  to  be 
made  acquainted  with  His  will,  that  all  might  regulate  their  lives 
for  the  greatest  happiness  and  usefulness. 

Josephus  declares  that  from  the  days  of  Moses  the  Jews  as- 
sembled in  their  synagogues  every  Sabbath,  not  only  to  hear  the 
Law  read,  but  "to  learn  it  accurately."  It  is  of  record  that  the 
instruction  of  the  young  in  the  teachings  of  the  Law  began  so 
early  that  if  any  one  of  the  Jews  was  questioned  concerning  these 
Laws  he  could  more  easily  repeat  those  Laws  than  his  own  name. 
He  also  affirms  that  the  synagogues  and  homes  of  thje  Jews  were 
really  houses  of  instruction,  that  parents,  tutors,  and  teachers 
imparted  instruction  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Law,  that  young 
people  from  their  earliest  youth  might  bear  the  image  of  the 
Law  in  their  souls. 

Deutsch  is  authority  for  saying  that  eighty  years  before  Christ 
schools  flourished  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land, 
and  education  had  been  made  compulsory.  Such  schools  are  re- 
ported under  expressions  such  as  "house  of  instruction,"  "house 
of  learning,"  "house  of  the  teacher,"  "house  of  the  Master," 
"house  of  The  Book." 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    AND    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL  183 

It  appears  that  the  Sabbath  Day  assemblages  in  the  syna- 
gogues were  not  confined  to  public  worship,  but  religious  instruc- 
tion likewise  was  provided  for.  Such  instruction  was  counted 
above  all  things  important  by  the  devout  Israelites.  To  live  in 
a  community  where  there  was  no  Bible  school  was  forbidden  to 
the  godly  Jew. 

Such  was  the  Bible  school  idea  and  system  of  the  Jews  at 
the  time  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  born  into  the  land.  In  line 
with  a  Jewish  youth's  privilege  and  duty,  the  Christ  was  soon 
found  at  the  Holy  City,  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  teachers, 
hearing  and  asking  questions.  Not  long  after  He  went  about  all 
Galilee,  its  cities  and  villages,  teaching  in  their  synagogues. 

Not  many  sermons  of  His  are  recorded,  but  He  is  often  set 
down  in  The  Book  as  in  "the  private  house,"  "temple  court," 
and  "by  the  wayside,"  as  a  teacher  of  the  truth,  in  addition  to 
His  mission  as  a  preacher  of  righteousness.  It  seemed  to  be 
common  for  Him  to  be  accessible  to  questioners  and  the  answerer 
of  questions.  He  would  say,  "Have  you  not  read  in  the  Scrip- 
tures?" "What  think  ye  of  Christ?"  "Whose  image  and  super- 
scription is  this?"  and  "as  teaching  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
have  you  not  read  that  it  was  spoken  unto  you  by  God  ?"  At  the 
close  of  His  earthly  ministry  He  charged  His  followers  saying: 
"Go  ye  therefore  and  make  disciples — scholars — in  all  the  na- 
tions, baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  command  of  you."  This  was  the  starting  point  of 
Christ's  Church.  Groups  of  men,  their  families  and  their  house- 
holds, received  the  truth  from  those  who  were  personally  asso- 
ciated with  Christ;  upon  what  they  were  taught  they  organized 
churches,  children  being  specifically  mentioned  as  coming  under 
apostolic  instruction  and  care. 

In  laying  the  foundations  of  the  Church  the  Sunday  School 
foundations  were  laid  with  them,  and  they  are  therefore  insepa- 
rable. The  object  of  both  is  to  teach  the  Word  of  God,  bring 
souls  to  Christ,  watch  over  them  and  build  them  up  in  the  re- 
ligious life.  If  either  fail  in  this,  it  is  off  the  track  and  loses 
its  opportunity.  It  was  a  lost  step  for  the  Church  when  the 
Sunday  School  was  suffered  to  become  largely  a  child's  school, 
taught  almost  wholly  by  wom.en  teachers,  excellent  as  they  may 
be.  I  mean  that  the  rating  it  has  received  through  the  apparent 
neglect  of  it  by  men  has  been  most  hurtful  to  its  work,  account- 


184  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

ing  in  part  for  the  great  difficulty  of  holding  in  its  ranks  the 
youth  rising  to  manhood. 

People  are  very  likely  to  treat  you  as  you  treat  them,  and  the 
treatment  of  the  Sunday  School  by  the  Church  officials  and  par- 
ents as  a  whole  has  changed  the  estimate  of  its  value  by  our 
young  men  and  women  as  well  as  by  men  of  maturer  years  who 
come  into  the  Church  late  in  life. 

Tbe  Church  cannot  make  a  greater  mistake  than  taking  it  for 
granted  that  men  and  women  are  satisfied  with  what  they  get  of 
the  Bible  in  sermons.  I  verily  believe  that  good  preaching  creates 
an  appetite  for  Bible  study,  and  given  the  proper  accommodations, 
with  teachers  who  know  the  Word  of  God  and  are  able  to  im- 
part knowledge,  there  would  be  a  great  revival  of  interest  in  Bible 
history  and  Bible  doctrines  on  the  part  of  thoughtful,  busy  men 
who  hunger  for  the  Bible  and  are  conscious  of  their  need,  but 
do  not  care  for  Sunday  School  musicals,  socials  or  semi-religious 
sensations. 

That  loyal  and  strong  arm  of  the  Church,  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  realized  the  defect  in  Church  organization 
and  its  Sunday  School  departments  when  it  established  Sunday 
Afternoon  Bible  Conferences,  now  largely  attended  in  every  city. 
I  believe  the  new  and  great  prosperity  that  came  to  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations  began  with  the  influence  of  these 
classes  for  the  study  of  the  Scriptures. 

The  Men's  Brotherhoods,  where  successful,  owe  it  alone  to  the 
binding  links  of  Scripture  study.  The  city  and  country  are  full 
of  forgotten  men,  or  at  least  of  men  who  feel  that  the  Church 
makes  no  sign  to  them  except  for  contributions.  The  Church  and 
its  schools  will  find  that  it  can  have  the  men  if  they  have  any- 
thing to  offer  that  will  help  men  to  live  their  lives  and  aid  them 
in  doing  their  daily  work. 

The  pulpit  is  the  head  and  heart  of  the  Church,  and  the 
Sunday  School  is  its  right  hand.  The  over  shepherd  and  chief 
teacher  directs  the  under  teacher  shepherds.  The  flocks  are  on 
every  shore  and  street,  young  and  old,  and  hungry. 

Martin  Luther  declared  that  every  child  should  be  put  under 
catechetical  instruction,  that  he  ought  to  know  the  main  truths 
of  the  Gospel,  the  facts  of  the  life  and  work  of  our  Lord  by  the 
time  he  was  nine  or  ten  years  of  age.  The  early  Methodist  and 
Moravian  Churches  always  gave  the  first  place  to  the  Bible,   and 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    AND    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL  185 

one  of  their  first  cares  was  for  the  children,  that  they  might  be 
instructed  for  the  religious  life. 

Whitefield  and  Wesley  were  great  preachers,  and  the  hardest 
iron  softened  into  coals  which  kindled  and  burned  under  the 
breath  of  their  preaching,  but  John  Wesley  did  more  than  preach, 
he  took  the  pincers  and  hanmier  of  the  Weekly  Class  Meeting, 
Monthly  Love  Feast  and  Quarterly  Conference;  he  systematically 
screwed  up  the  Churches  in  methods  of  training  and  maintaining 
teachers.  He  recognized  the  worth  of  the  Sunday  School  agency 
and  immediately  incorporated  it  into  the  policy  of  his  undertakings. 

Whatever  supervision  the  Church  provides  for  the  flock  by 
Elders,  Deacons,  Stewards,  Vestrymen,  Consistories  and  Trustees, 
stops  short  in  its  responsibility  when  it  fails  to  cover  the  Sunday 
School  side  of  the  Church  work. 

In  the  Memoirs  of  General  Grant  it  is  quite  plain  to  be  seen 
that  his  achievements  were  largely  due  to  Ms  personal  attention 
to  details ;  where  it  was  possible  he  personally  saw  his  subordinate 
officer  and  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  situation  gave  his  in- 
structions face  to  face.  If  the  Sunday  School  had  been  born  of 
worthy  Kobert  Raikes,  at  Gloucester,  England,  or  of  any  mere 
man,  it  could  not  have  survived  in  the  cold  and  hunger  and  perils 
from  within  and  without    through  which  it  has  come. 

Many  clergymen  and  laymen — thank  God,  not  all — have  fig- 
ured it  over,  counted  it  up  and  dropped  it;  picked  it  up  again,  and 
dropped  it.  The  fact  is,  it  cannot  be  counted  up  in  a  worldly 
way.  It  was  given  by  the  Divine  Father  to  ancient  Israel  and 
a  spiritual  arithmetic  is  needed  to  measure  the  divine  leaven 
still  remaining  in  it,  much  hindered  but  not  totally  destroyed. 
It  has  suffered  from  ignorance,  indifference,  spasmodic  and  lan- 
guid interest,  but  it  has  always  had  a  small  remnant  of  God's 
earnest  and  active  souls  whose  faith  has  never  flagged  or  failed, 
and  they  have  not  been  without  reward. 

The  last  twenty  years  have  witnessed  a  new  awakening  of 
interest  throughout  the  world  in  advancing  Sunday  School  plans 
and  programmes.  The  heart  of  the  improvement  in  methods  and 
results  is  in  the  unanimous  concentration  of  its  leaders  every- 
where to  insist  upon  the  training  of  teachers  and  grading  the 
schools.  Pledged  to  this  advanced  idea  to  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
the  International  Convention  held  at  Toronto  in  June  last  re- 
ported the  existence  of  141,112  Sunday  Schools  with  1,457,483 
teachers  and  11,251,009  scholars,  connected  with  125.000  churches. 


186  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Supervising  this  work  are  the  denominational  societies  and  boards 
in  their  respective  lields,  and  also  a  State  or  territorial  organiza- 
tion in  each  of  the  States  and  territories — for  example,  Pennsyl- 
vania (of  which  I  know  best)  has  each,  of  its  sixty-seven  counties 
organized,  and  in  many  of  these  counties  there  are  township 
organizations  to  promote  institutes,  councils  upon  teaching  and 
methods,  conducted  by  the  Field  Secretaries  and  Visiting  Teach- 
ers and  Christian  Workers.  The  Teachers'  Normal  Classes,  con- 
ducted last  year,  had  in  them  3,732  students,  913  of  whom  com- 
pleted the  course  and  received  the  State  Diploma  at  the  annual 
convention  in  Philadelphia,  attended  by  upwards  of  1,400  dele- 
gates a  month  ago.  The  forty-seven  State  organizations  are  fed- 
erated in  the  International  Interdenominational  Association  that 
unifies,  strengthens,  supports  and  leads  in  the  Sunday  School 
work. 

There  is  much  in  the  outlook  to  encourage  and  much  more 
to  criticise  in  present  conditions.  Too  much,  far  too  much,  is  ex- 
pected of  the  Sunday  School,  hampered  as  it  is  by  the  low  and 
hasty  conceptions  of  its  place  and  possibilities.  I  fear  for  Chris- 
tianity far  less  from  the  infidelity  and  scepticism  of  the  times 
than  from  the  indifference  and  incompetence  of  Church  officials, 
upon  whom  largely  rests  the  responsibility  of  the  dry  Church, 
wells  and  Church  machinery  rusty  from  non-use. 

By  all  the  tests  of  the  years  the  Sunday  School  has  proved  its 
excellence  as  the  agency  in  chief  of  pioneer  evangelization  in  city 
and  country. 

What  our  great  Methodist  Church  did  in  its  early  days,  by 
planting  Sunday  Schools  and  by  circuit  preachers  in  making 
churches  out  of  them;  what  the  American  Sunday  School  Union 
is  still  doing  in  establishing  schools,  has  had  more  to  do  than  we 
shall  ever  know,  more  than  forts  and  fleets  in  safeguarding  the 
American  nation.  Out  of  City  Mission  Sunday  Schools  outlying 
Churches  are  born.  The  work  is  not  all  done  yet,  and  it  de- 
serves to  be  better  done. 

To  briefly  summarize  the  whole  situation: 

1.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  old  time  insistence  of  re- 
ligious instruction  in  the  home  is  not  in  the  plan  or  at  least  in 
the  programme  of  the  Church. 

2.  That  the  youth  and  young  men  and  women  must  find  Bible 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    AND    THE    SUNDAY    SCHOOL  187 

interlocutory  teaching  in  the  Sunday  Schools  and  Bible  Unions 
or  not  get  it  at  all. 

3.  That  the  Sunday  School  fires  bum  low  in  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  Churches,  and  the  growing  youth  run  away  from 
what  is  offered,  as  the  hungry  rats  run  away  from  an  empty  barn. 

4.  That  the  twentieth  century,  with  its  great  enlargements 
of  facilities  in  universities,  colleges  and  private  schools,  with  its 
vast  expansion  in  railroad,  financial  and  general  business  enter- 
prises, demands  that  the  Universal  Church  call  upon  its  Christian 
men  to  Ihink  straight,  see  clearly,  and  pull  themselves  together 
for  a  forward  movement  in  everything  that  pertains  to  the  work 
of  the  Church,  Sunday  Schools  and  Christian  Associations  with 
at  least  the  same  patriotism  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  that  is 
cherished  for  our  National  Government. 

5.  That  the  initial  steps  must  be  the  revival  within  the 
Church  in  recreating  the  men  needed  in  leadership,  that  they 
may  give  themselves  in  larger  measure  to  Christian  work,  rather 
than  give  their  wealth  alone. 

6.  That  Ave  affirm  our  belief  in  the  goodness  of  the  old  organ- 
izations of  the  Church  if  put  in  working  order  and  kept  going. 

7.  That  each  Church  and  Sunday  School  be  urged  to  give  the 
year  1906  to  bringing  in  the  tithes  and  proving  the  promise  of 
God  in  Church  work  by  magnifying  the  study  of  the  Bible  and 
cutting  out  for  one  year  everything  that  does  not  distinctly  con- 
nect with  it. 

8.  That  as  directors  must  direct  in  insurance  companies,  the 
overseers  of  the  Church  must  oversee,  or  perils  and  loss  will 
bring  to  judgment  all  who  have  accepted  personal  official  relation- 
ship therewith. 

9.  That  grateful  as  we  must  ever  be  to  the  godly  men  and 
women  who  have  given  unsalaried  service  to  the  Church  and  its 
schools,  it  is  in  this  age  vital,  if  the  Sunday  Schools  are  to  be 
resurrected,  sustained  and  lifted  to  higher  usefulness,  that  no 
one  shall  be  permitted  to  undertake  the  teacher's  place  without 
first  giving  satisfactory  evidence  to  the  pastor  or  his  representa- 
tive of  being  properly  qualified  by  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  and 
fair  ability  to  impart  that  knowledge  to  others.  It  is  recom- 
mended that  it  were  better  to  combine  classes  under  good  teachers 
rather  than  have  small  classes  with  poor  teachers. 


188  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

10.  That  inasmuch  as  by  general  average  not  more  than  one 
out  of  fifteen  of  the  adult  members  of  the  Church  attend  Bible 
Classes,  an  earnest  and  continuous  effort  be  made  by  the  office 
bearers  of  each  Church  to  interest  parents,  that  the  fathers  and 
mothers  assist  the  teachers  in  bringing  the  proper  influence  to  bear 
upon  members  of  their  own  families. 

11.  That  the  movement  going  on  in  the  universities,  col- 
leges and  theological  seminaries  to  establish  foundations  for 
Bible  pedagogy,  and  the  beginning  of  courses  of  instruction  for 
Sunday  School  management  and  teacher  training,  are  most  com- 
mendable and  worthy  of  all  encouragement. 

12.  That  wherever  it  is  possible  to  maintain  a  local  teach- 
ers' meeting  it  be  urged  upon  the  Churches  of  a  district  to  unite 
within  their  denomination  for  a  union  teachers'  meeting  under 
a  competent  teacher,  that  may  have  to  be  compensated  by  the 
Churches  for  the  service  rendered. 

13.  That  we  regard  Federation  in  Church  work  as  one  of  the 
most  potential  means  of  securing  the  maintenance  of  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  freedom  from  employment, 
giving  opportunities  to  engage  in  Bible  study  and  Bible  work, 
in  improving  our  Sunday  Schools  in  teacher  training,  adult  and 
other  graded  classes,  and  in  labors  for  civic  righteousness. 

The  battle  is  on  and  this  Federation  Council  summons  us. 
General  Grant  said,  when  discussing  a  defeat  at  Fort  Donelson 
and  Shiloh,  "Whoever  first  assumes  the  offensive  is  sure  to  win." 
He  did  it.    He  won. 


WEEK-DAY    RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION 


The  Rev.  Geo.  U.  Wenner,  D.D. 


On  the  question  of  education  two  positions  are  held  by  American 
Protestants,  and  these  two  seem  to  contradict  one  another.  One  is 
that  there  should  be  a  public  school,  open  to  all  children  without 
regard  to  creed.  The  other  is  that  religion  is  a  vital  factor  in  edu- 
cation. 

When  our  country  was  young  and  Protestantism  was  the  pre- 
vailing type  of  religion,  these  two  ideas  dwelt  peaceably  together. 


WEEK-DAY    RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION  18» 

Although  "religion"  consisted  only  of  some  simple  opening  exer- 
cises, it  was  enough  to  exculpate  the  school  system  from  the  charge 
of  godlessness.  But  the  influx  of  millions  of  people  of  other  faiths 
compels  us  to  revise  our  methods  and  to  test  them  by  our  principles, 
the  principles  of  a  free  Church  within  a  free  State.  Koman  Catho- 
lics and  Jews  object  to  our  traditions,  and  when  their  opposition 
has  for  a  time  been  successfully  resisted  we  are  satisfied  if  a  psalm 
may  be  read  and  the  Lord's  Prayer  said  at  the  opening  of  the  daily 
session  of  school.     And  this  we  call  religion  in  the  public  school. 

Still  the  question  remains.  On  the  one  hand,  those  who  doubt 
the  propriety  of  introducing  any  religious  instruction,  however  at- 
tenuated, into  the  public  school,  whether  the  t3rpe  of  that  instruc- 
tion be  Eoman  Catholic,  Protestant  or  Jewish,  are  not  satisfied  with 
the  compromise.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  believe  that  religion 
has  a  supreme  place  in  the  training  of  a  child  and  that  provision 
should  be  made  for  it  in  the  programme  of  its  school  life,  more  and 
more  realize  the  inadequacy  of  the  present  method. 

The  importance  of  the  question  is  admitted.  But  it  is  a  com- 
plex and  difficult  problem.  Our  cosmopolitan  population  and  our 
constitutional  limitations  make  it  more  complicated  even  than  in 
England  or  in  France.  Hence  it  is  not  strange  that  many  of  the 
solutions  offered  are  inadequate  or  impracticable. 

This  question,  moreover,  is  not  new.  The  problem  has  pre- 
sented itself  during  all  the  Christian  centuries.  In  the  Apostolic 
period  family  training  was  the  rule.  In  the  Middle  Ages  the  mon- 
asteries established  schools.  One  of  the  greatest  figures  in  the  ef- 
fort to  secure  Christian  training  for  children  was  Charlemagne,  in 
the  ninth  century.  Four  hundred  years  later  systematic  efforts 
were  made  in  France  and  in  Germany  to  provide  better  schools. 
But  it  was  not  until  the  sixteenth  century,  in  the  Protestant  Eef- 
ormation,  that  definite  and  effective  plans  for  the  promotion  of 
Christian  education  were  formed.  The  agents  were  the  pastors  and 
the  schools.  Part  of  this  work  was  done  on  Sundays,  and  one  or 
more  week  days  were  also  set  apart  on  which  religious  instruction 
was  given  to  children.  Thus  after  seven  hundred  years  the  hopes 
and  plans  of  Charlemagne  were  realized  in  the  work  of  Luther  and 
Melanchthon. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  new  methods  of  teaching  were  intro- 
duced. Up  to  this  point  it  was  the  Christian  school,  a  system  of 
education  in  which  the  Christian  religion  was  to  be  taught,  that  led 
the  way  in  the  work  of  education. 


190  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  scheme  which  Francke  mapped  out  for  his  pauper  school 
at  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  adopted  by  Frederick 
the  Great  for  Prussia,  and  made  clear  to  the  State  its  obligation  to 
educate  all  its  children.  Under  the  sense  of  this  obligation  Ger- 
many, England,  France  and  America  have  constructed  their  edu- 
cational systems.  So,  too,  the  better  methods  and  principles  of 
teaching  which  have  given  to  the  public  school  the  efficiency  it  enjoys 
to-day  originated  in  the  Christian  school.  I  desire  that  this  in- 
debtedness may  be  noted,  as  I  shall  recommend  at  the  close  of  this 
paper  a  repayment  of  the  debt. 

What,  then,  is  the  present  state  of  instruction  in  religion  in  the 
great  Christian  nations  of  the  world  ? 

In  Germany  religious  instruction  is  regarded  as  the  first  duty 
of  the  school,  and  at  least  five  hours  each  week  are  given  to  it. 

In  England,  through  a  system  of  national  and  board  schools, 
religious  instruction  is  provided  for  every  child. 

In  France  there  is  complete  separation  between  Church  and 
State,  and  religious  instruction  is  forbidden  in  the  State  schools. 
But  Thursday  of  each  week  is  given  for  the  purpose  of  allowing 
the  Churches  to  provide  in  their  own  way  for  such  instruction  as 
they  may  desire  to  give. 

In  America  religious  instruction  has  by  judicial  decision  been 
excluded  from  the  public  school.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  and 
a  portion  of  the  Lutheran  Church  maintain  parochial  schools.  The 
other  Churches  have  to  a  great  extent  delegated  the  work  of  instruc- 
tion to  an  organization  connected  with  the  Church,  but  to  a  large 
degree  independent  of  it.  Its  hours  of  instruction,  or,  rather,  its 
fraction  of  one  hour,  is  confined  to  Sunday.  So  great  is  its  influ- 
ence and  relative  efficiency  that  if  one  were  asked  what  is  the  Amer- 
ican system  of  religious  instruction,  in  most  cases  the  answer  would 
be,  "The  Sunday  School." 

We  have  thus  found  four  institutions  engaged  in  the  work  of 
religious  instruction — the  family,  the  Church,  the  State  and  the 
volunteer  school.  Upon  which  of  these  does  the  obligation  pri- 
marily rest  ?  It  needs  no  argument  to  show  that  the  first  duty  rests 
upon  the  family,  and  if  this  duty  were  more  generally  recognized 
there  would  be  fewer  problems  to  solve.  But  next  to  the  family 
stands  the  Christian  Church,  with  a  paramount  obligation  in  the 
matter  of  Christian  education.  Among  Protestants  this  conviction 
is  not  always  clear;  nevertheless,  in  all  discussions  of  the  question 
it  is  continually  finding  expression  in  some  form  or  other. 


WEEK-DAY    RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION  191 

And  certainly  in  this  Conference  we  shall  not  ignore  the  place  of 
the  Church.  This  is  an  Inter-Church  Conference.  Doubtless,  there 
is  not  one  delegate  who  does  not  join  in  the  confession  of  "the  Holy 
Catholic  Church";  that  is,  "the  communion  of  saints."  Whatever 
other  views  we  may  have  on  the  question  of  the  Church,  we  are  at 
one  in  this,  the  Church  is  the  communion  of  saints,  the  fellowship 
of  believers,  to  which  the  Lord  Himself  has  committed  the  power 
of  the  keys,  the  care  of  souls.  Such  a  responsibility  cannot  be  dele- 
gated to  any  other  agency. 

We  maintain  therefore  that  such  a  fundamental  thing  as  re- 
ligious education  should  be  under  the  direct  supervision  of  the 
Church  and  its  ministry,  that  it  should  be  so  conducted  as  to  hold 
in  view  the  principles  and  the  aims  of  the  Church  life,  and  that  its 
final  purpose  should  be  to  lead  the  children  into  the  Church  and  to 
make  them  participants  of  its  privileges  and  services. 

Roman  Catholics,  although  holding  a  different  theory  of  the 
Church,  are  at  one  with  us  in  recognizing  this  obligation,  and  at 
great  sacrifice  they  are  endeavoring  to  meeb  it  through  their  system 
of  parochial  schools.  All  honor  to  them  for  their  consistency  and 
perseverance.  A  portion  of  the  Lutheran  Church  is  equally  in- 
sistent upon  the  parochial  school,  and  for  the  same  reason.* 

But  most  Protestant  Churches  are  not  prepared  to  accept  the 
parochial  school  as  the  solution.  On  the  other  hand,  from  min- 
isters, conferences  and  Church  papers  there  comes  perennially  the 
plea  for  "religion  in  the  public  schools."  If  by  this  is  meant  no 
more  than  the  reading  of  a  psalm  and  the  recitation  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  perhaps  the  plea  may  be  granted,  and  for  an  indefinite 
number  of  years,  without  straining  the  Constitution,  we  may  retain 
^'religion  in  the  pubUc  schools." 

But  there  are  two  objections.  Are  they  not  vital?  One  is  de- 
nominational. Even  if  Protestants  could  agree  on  some  ground, 
which  is  improbable,  what  kind  of  a  conglomerate  would  that  be 
which  would  be  acceptable  alike  to  Eoman  Catholics,  Protestants 
and  Jews  ?     The  thing  is  inconceivable. 

But  there  is  another  objection.  The  method  of  secular  instruc- 
tion differs  from  that  of  religious  instruction.  Secular  knowledge 
is  acquired  by  intellectual  and  critical  powers.  Religion  is  a  mat- 
ter of  the  heart  and  life.  The  holy  mysteries  of  our  faith  cannot 
be  taught  in  the  atmosphere  of  mathematics  and  biology. 

No,  the  Church  and  the  State  are  distinct  spheres.     The  alliance 

*See  page  194. 


192  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

between  the  two  in  the  past  has  not  produced  such  results  as  would 
encourage  us  to  renew  or  to  continue  the  partnership  for  the  future. 

There  are  those  who  think  that  ethical  teaching  in  the  public 
schools  on  week  days,  with  religious  teaching  in  the  Churches  on 
Sundays,  will  meet  the  want.  No  one  can  object  to  ethical  teaching 
in  the  public  school.  If  all  that  we  read  in  the  newspapers  is  true 
such  a  course  might  be  properly  described  as  a  felt  need.  But  it 
cannot  take  the  place  of  religion.  The  Christian  religion  is  a  reve- 
lation in  history,  resting  upon  certain  facts  that  have  to  be  learned 
and  communicated  to  others.  It  has  certain  principles  which  have 
to  be  applied  to  the  daily  life.  It  is  a  matter  for  all  days  and  all 
places,  and  not  merely  for  Sundays  and  for  the  sanctuary.  Its  rela- 
tion to  the  whole  life  places  it  in  the  foremost  place  in  the  training 
and  development  of  the  young  in  order  that  its  highest  ideals  may 
be  attained. 

Hence  it  will  be  difficult  for  us  to  conceive  of  a  substitute  for 
religious  instruction,  or  to  find  any  agency  other  than  the  Christian 
Church  through  which  it  can  be  properly  and  effectively  imparted. 

Is  the  parochial  school  then,  after  all,  the  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion? Must  we  retire  from  the  public  school,  separate  ourselves 
from  the  moral  and  educational  problems  of  society  and  the  State, 
and  thus  be  untrue  to  our  entire  history?  For,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  public  school  is  the  child  of  the  Christian  school.  After  spend- 
ing four  hundred  years  in  developing  a  system  of  education  for  the 
people,  and  handing  it  over  to  the  State  for  the  benefit  of  all,  are 
we  to  be  deprived  of  the  privileges  of  our  own  system?  We  have 
no  thought  of  doing  so,  of  retiring  from  a  school  which  the  State 
would  never  have  had  but  for  the  untiring  efforts  of  Protestant 
ministers  and  Protestant  Churches.  The  teachers  and  directors  of 
the  public  school  are  to  a  great  extent  the  members  of  our  Churches. 
Its  principles  are  those  which  have  been  inculcated  by  our  pulpits. 
Its  most  loyal  and  efficient  supporters  are  our  Protestant  Churchps. 
There  are,  it  is  true,  things  of  highest  importance  which  the  secular 
school  does  not  supply.  In  order  that  we  may  not  lose  these,  must 
we  go  back  to  the  private  or  parochial  school  and  build  up  anew  our 
system  of  education? 

We  do  not  ask  for  the  teaching  of  religion  in  the  public  school. 
On  the  contrar}%  we  object  to  a  State  religion.  Of  the  three 
Churches  that  are  supposed  to  favor  Christian  education  in  the  day 
school — Roman  Catholics,  Episcopalians  and  Lutherans — the  last 


REV.    JOHN    F.    CARSON,    D.D.  REV.    J.    H.    GARRISON,    LL.D. 


REV.  GEORGE   W.   RICHARDS,   D.D.  HON.    JOHN    WAXAMAKER 


WEEK-DAY    RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION  193 

named  certainly  would  not  favor  it  for  the  public  school.  Even  in 
Europe  the  tendency  is  distinctly  in  the  direction  of  separating  re- 
ligious education  from  State  control. 

In  this  city  the  public  schools  are  overcrowded.  There  might 
be  more  room  if  the  friends  of  the  Christian  school  were  to  with- 
draw. But  this  would  not  benefit  the  public  school.  It  benefits 
the  commonwealth  to  mingle  the  classes.  A  system  of  separate 
schools,  such,  for  example,  as  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church  encour- 
ages, is  beneficial  neither  to  the  State  nor  the  Church.  If  Chris- 
tians are  to  be  the  salt  and  the  light  of  the  world,  they  must  be  in 
the  world  and  not  out  of  it.  The  parochial  school  is  not  the 
solution. 

Does  the  Sunday  School  meet  the  requirements  of  religious  in- 
struction ?  It  is  an  institution  that  has  endeared  itself  to  the  hearts 
of  millions.  Originally  intended  for  the  half-fed  waifs  of  an  Eng- 
lish manufacturing  town,  it  has  become  among  English-speaking 
people  an  important  agency  of  religion.  Apart  from  the  instruc- 
tion which  it  gives,  we  could  not  dispense  with  it  as  a  field  for  the 
cultivation  of  lay  activity,  and  a  practical  demonstration  of  the 
priesthood  of  all  believers.  Nevertheless,  its  best  friends  are  ready 
to  concede  its  limitations.  From  a  pedagogical  standpoint,  no  one 
thinks  of  comparing  it  with  the  secular  school.  With  but  half  an 
hour  a  week  for  instruction,  even  the  best  of  teachers  could  not  ex- 
pect very  important  results.  Perhaps  its  chief  value  lies  in  the  per- 
sonal influence  of  the  teacher.  But  instruction  in  religion  involves 
more  than  this 

Nor  does  the  Sunday  School  reach  all  the  children.  Attendance 
is  voluntary,  and  hence  there  is  no  guaranty  that  all  the  children 
of  school  age  will  obtain  any  instruction,  to  say  nothing  of  graded 
and  systematic  instruction,  taking  account  of  the  entire  school  life, 
and  holding  in  mind  the  ultimate  object  of  instruction,  the  prepa- 
ration of  children  for  full  membership  in  the  Church.  But  this  is 
one  of  the  first  duties  of  the  Churches,  to  look  after  all  their  chil- 
dren with  this  very  end  in  view.  Paedobaptists  are  under  this 
obligation  because  their  children  have  been  baptized,  and  Baptists 
in  order  that  they  may  be  baptized. 

Let  us  make  the  most  of  the  Sunday  School  which  has  provi- 
dentially grown  up  among  us.  As  a  supplement  and  an  aid  it  has 
untold  possibilities  of  usefulness.  But  all  its  merits  and  advan- 
tages cannot  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  it  does  not  and  cannot 


194  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

meet  the  chief  requirement  of  the  Christian  school,  the  systematic 
preparation  of  all  the  children  for  the  duties  of  church  membership. 

What  solution  then  can  be  found  by  those  who  are  not  satisfied 
with  the  present  conditions?  England  and  Germany  are  them- 
selves in  a  transition  state  on  this  question,  and  their  answer  will 
therefore  not  suit  us.  France  is  more  likely  to  offer  a  practical 
suggestion.  If  "Catholic"  or  "Infidel"'  France  is  able  to  give  Thurs- 
days to  the  Churches,  what  can  America  do  ?  Can  she  not  give  at 
least  one  afternoon — say,  Wednesday  afternoon?  Two  hours  of 
grammar  or  geography  might  thus  be  sacrificed.  But  it  would  give 
the  Churches  an  opportunity  to  establish  classes  in  their  own  schools 
in  which  systematic  instruction  in  religion  could  be  given.  Any 
loss  which  the  children  might  sustain  in  secular  studies  would  be 
more  than  compensated  by  their  gain  in  religious  knowledge. 
Character  is  worth  more  than  acquirements. 

This  does  not  involve  the  closing  of  the  public  school  on  Wednes- 
day afternoon  and  turning  the  non-church  children  into  the  street. 
It  simply  asks  that  all  children,  bringing  a  certificate  of  attendance 
from  their  Church  school,  should  be  excused  for  their  absence  from 
the  public  school.  The  curriculum  could  be  so  arranged  that  ab- 
sentees would  not  suffer  an  irreparable  loss.  Music,  etiquette,  or 
ethics,  or  some  other  substitute  for  religion,  might  be  given  to  those 
who  remain.  In  spite  of  all  that  public  school  teachers  may  claim, 
there  is  a  widespread  feeling  that  the  children  are  overworked,  and 
a  complete  change  of  atmosphere  in  the  middle  of  the  week  would 
be  welcome.* 

My  theme  may  seem  to  involve  only  a  question  of  method,  the 
use  of  a  week-day  hour  in  place  of  or  in  addition  to  a  Sunday  hour. 
But  it  means  far  more.     It  illustrates  and  enforces  a  principle. 


*Thi8  is  a  practical  proposition  which  ought  to  be  realized  in  less  time 
even  than  the  seven  hundred  years  which  were  required  to  carry  out  Charle- 
magne's plans.  But  if  it  does  not  meet  public  approval,  we  Lutherans  will 
not  worry.  We  have  catechetical  principles  and  traditions  enabling  us  to 
give  week-day  instruction  without  asking  any  favors  of  the  public  school. 
But  the  Wednesday  plan  would  make  it  a  little  easier  for  the  children. 

The  speaker  has  for  many  years  maintained  afternoon  classes  in  religion 
in  his  church  on  the  east  side.  The  attendance  is  obligatory  for  all  children 
of  the  congregation  over  six  years  of  age.  There  are  six  grades:  Infants, 
six  to  seven  years  of  age;  Priraarians,  eight  to  nine;  Juniors,  ten;  Inter- 
mediates, eleven;  Preparatorians,  twelve;  Catechumens,  thirteen.  Catechu- 
mens come  twice  a  week,  the  other  classes  once  a  week.  The  subjects  are: 
Bible  story,  to  a  great  extent  the  same  lesson  that  is  taught  in  the  Sunday 
School ;  Bible  study,  the  Church  Catechism,  hymns,  prayers,  the  Church 
Liturgy,  and  the  Sermon.  Attendance  at  the  church  service  is  obligatory 
for  the  four  upper  grades,  and  a  written  report  of  the  sermon  is  required. 


WEEK-DAY    RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION  195 

The  Church  must  recognize  its  relation  to  the  child  in  all  the  stages 
of  its  growing  life,  to  assume  its  proper  function  of  religious  in- 
struction, and  to  resist  the  ever  recurring  temptation  to  delegate  this 
function  to  any  other  agency. 

The  question  is  being  discussed  from  many  points  of  view. 
Teachers,  ministers  and  the  press  are  on  the  alert  to  find  the  way  out 
of  its  difficulties.  After  all  that  can  be  said,  three  incontrovertible 
positions  remain:  Eeligion  is  a  vital  factor  in  education,  the 
Church  cannot  form  an  alliance  with  the  State  in  the  matter  of 
religion,  the  Church  must  exercise  her  legitimate  function  in  re- 
ligious education. 

Three  solutions  of  the  question  have  been  offered :  Eeligion  in 
the  public  school,  the  parochial  school,  the  Sunday  School.  None 
of  these  meet  the  requirements.  In  their  place  I  offer  to  this  Synod 
of  American  Churches  a  simple,  practical  proposition:  Let  the 
public  school  restore  to  the  Church  a  portion  of  the  time  which  has 
been  surrendered.  Give  us  Wednesday  afternoon  for  the  use  of 
those  Churches  and  those  children  who  desire  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  opportunity. 

In  support  of  this  claim  I  appeal  to  the  public  school.  You 
owe  your  existence  to  the  Christian  week-day  school.  Your  best 
friends  and  co-workers  are  to  be  found  in  our  Protestant  Churches. 
All  we  ask  is  that  you  so  arrange  your  course  of  studies  as  not  to 
crowd  us  out  and  prevent  us  from  giving,  at  our  own  expense,  the 
instruction  which  we  believe  to  be  indispensable  to  all  true  educa- 
tion. 

But  I  appeal  also  to  the  Churches  and  especially  to  the  minis- 
try. It  was  you  who  by  your  indolence,  in  the  days  of  Charlemagne, 
eleven  centuries  ago,  frustrated  the  plans  of  that  enlightened 
ruler,  and  thus  set  back  the  clock  of  Christian  education  by  seven 
centuries.  I  greatly  fear  that  you  will  be  the  greatest  obstacle  at 
the  present  time,  because  of  your  claim  that  you  have  so  many 
other  things  to  do.  The  most  valuable  and  lasting  results  of 
your  ministry  will  be  reaped  from  such  efforts  as  I  have  pointed 
out.  Eoman  Catholic  bishops  will  tell  you  that  without  schools 
they  would  soon  be  without  churches.  Protestants  will  not  be 
without  Churches,  but  they  wiU  have  stronger  congregations,  more 
appreciative  people  and  more  effective  Churches,  when  they  take 
the  same  care  of  their  children  as  do  the  Eoman  Catholics. 

Commissioner  Harris  says:  "The  prerogative  of  religious  in- 
struction is  in  the  Church  and  it  must  remain  in  the  Church,  and 


196  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

in  the  nature  of  things  it  cannot  be  farmed  out  to  the  secular 
schools  without  degenerating  into  mere  deism  bereft  of  living 
providence,  or  else  changing  the  school  into  a  parochial  school  and 
destroying  the  efficiency  of  secular  instruction."  (Educational 
Magazine,  1903.) 

Professor  Coe  says :  "If  we  are  to  have  common  schools  for  the 
whole  people,  complete  separation  of  Church  and  State,  and  yet 
thorough  religious  education  for  Catholic  and  Protestant  chil- 
dren alike,  it  follows  that  the  religious  function  of  the  State 
schools  should  be  permanently  restricted  to  friendly  recognition 
of  the  teaching  function  of  the  family  and  of  the  Church,  and 
sympathetic  cooperation  with  them.  *  *  *  But  this  implies 
that  these  communions  voluntarily  furnish,  at  their  own  expense, 
definite  and  systematic  religious  training  for  their  children  and 
for  all  children  who  can  be  reached."   (Eeligion  and  Morals.) 

Bishop  Greer  says :  "The  schools  are  doing  their  part,  in  their 
legitimate  sphere,  and  are  doing  all  they  can  do.  Is  the  Church 
doing  her  part  in  her  legitimate  sphere,  and  all  that  she  can  do? 
It  seems  to  me  she  is  not;  and  Uiat  with  no  other  machinery  or 
instruments  or  tools  than  what  she  now  possesses  she  might  do 
very  much  more  than  what  she  now  is  doing."  (Convention  ad- 
dress, 1905.) 

To  all  of  these  significant  utterances  of  representative  men, 
I  make  this  one  reply,  Give  us  Wednesday  afternoon.  And  I 
appeal  to  you,  will  not  this  simple  concession  on  the  part  of  the 
public  school,  and  this  forward  step  on  the  part  of  the  Churches, 
once  for  all  solve  our  problem?  To  the  public  school  we  shall 
then  be  able  to  give  our  unqualified  support,  and  in  return  utilize 
its  vast  resources.  And  the  work  of  the  Sunday  School  correlated 
Avith  that  of  the  week-day  Church  school  would  acquire  a  higher 
potential.  Thus  with  a  nine  years'  course  of  systematic  instruc- 
tion for  all  the  children  of  our  Churches,  in  many  cases  with  ex- 
pert helpers,  we  may  attain  results  that  have  been  impossible 
under  the  haphazard  methods  of  the  past. 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    IN    THE    COLLEGE 


President  Henry  C.  King,  D.D. 


As  no  other  paper  is  assigned  for  this  general  theme,  I  have 
assumed  that  my  subject  was  meant  to  cover  the  relation  of  religion 
to  our  entire  higher  education,  except  theological,  and  I  shall  so 
treat  it. 

I  have  ventured  to  say  elsewhere  that  a  faith  essentially  religious 
logically  underlies  all  our  reasoning,  all  work  worth  doing,  all  stren- 
uous moral  endeavor,  all  earnest  social  service;  and  so  to  express 
my  complete  agreement  with  Principal  Fairbairn  in  his  contention 
that  "religion  is  the  supreme  factor  in  the  organizing  and  regu- 
lating of  our  personal  and  collective  life." 

With  these  convictions,  it  is  plainly  impossible  for  me  to  think, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  any  education  can  be  other  than  incomplete 
that  ignores  religion,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  religious  fac- 
tor in  education  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  kind  of  varnish,  applied  to 
the  outside  of  the  educational  system.  It  must  permeate  the  whole, 
or  it  is  of  small  consequence.  And  the  higher  education  is  no 
exception. 

If  this  is  true,  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  Churches  need 
to  be  awakened  anew  to  the  exceptional  need  and  opportunity  for 
religion  in  higher  education — not  only  in  the  privately  endowed  col- 
leges, but  in  the  State  universities. 

I.  The  Need  and  the  Opportunity  for  Religious  Education  in 
the  College.    Let  me  ask  you  to  face  the  problem  for  a  moment. 

In  the  first  place,  college  and  university  students  are,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  among  the  picTced  men  and  women  of  the  couvv- 
try,  sure  to  have  an  influence  in  the  life  of  the  nation  quite  out  of 
proportion  to  their  numbers.  If  religion,  now,  is  to  have  a  power- 
ful influence  in  the  life  of  the  country,  it  cannot  more  surely 
achieve  such  influence  than  by  making  certain  that  it  gets  strong 
hold  upon  these  picked  men  and  women  at  the  educational  centers. 

In  the  second  place,  college  and  university  students  need  re- 
ligious help,  stimulus,  and  association  in  unusual  degree.  They 
stand  at  a  critical  time  in  their  lives.  They  have  passed  from  their 
homes  into  a  changed  environment,  and  are  subject  to  a  flood  of 
new  ideas.    These  two  things  together  require  from  them  that  they 

197 


198  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

should  be  able  to  gain  a  position  of  self-dependence,  and  should  be 
able  to  make  considerable  adjustment  and  reconstruction  in  their 
thinking.  Many  of  them  seem,  at  least  to  themselves,  to  be  con- 
fronted with  the  serious  question  whether  it  is  possible  to  keep  their 
religion  at  all?  If,  now,  they  are  to  retain  their  religion  in  any 
real  and  vital  way,  they  need  earnest  and  intelligent  help  in  their 
college  life. 

In  the  third  place,  these  college  and  university  students  should 
naturally  become  some  of  the  most  important  leaders  in  the 
religious  life  of  the  country.  For  their  own  sake,  therefore,  the 
religious  forces  ought  not  to  neglect  them.  Such  neglect  may  mean 
that  the  religious  life  of  the  nation  may  wholly  lose  these  natural 
leaders,  or  find  them  later  much  less  helpful  than  they  might 
easily  be. 

Again,  the  college  and  university  stand  for  expert  leadership  in 
all  departments.  If,  now,  religion  is  to  hold  its  own  in  the  life  of 
the  student,  it,  too,  should  have  expert  leadership,  of  a  kind  to  com- 
pare favorably  with  that  in  other  fields  of  thought  and  study  in  the 
college  or  university.  The  Churches,  therefore,  cannot  simply 
abandon  this  work  to  voluntary  and  student  agencies,  however  good 
these  may  be  in  themselves.  They  must  do  something  toward  fur- 
nishing genuinely  expert  leadership  for  these  student  thinkers  in 
the  facing  of  their  personal  religious  problems.  There  are  few 
places  in  the  entire  work  of  the  Churches  where  they  need  to  plan 
more  wisely  or  execute  more  energetically. 

It  is  also  to  be  said  that  if  the  Church  has  a  mission  at  all,  she 
is  sent  to  minister  to  the  life  of  the  nation  and  of  the  world.  If  she 
fails  to  do  this,  she  loses  her  very  reason  for  being.  Now,  the  col- 
lege and  university  men  and  women  are  the  social  leaven  of  the 
nation.  It  is  imperative  for  the  country  that  they  be  men  and 
women  of  the  highest  character,  convictions,  and  ideals.  And  it  is 
the  very  end,  at  least  of  college  training,  to  make  sure  that  this  is 
the  case.  Here,  then,  in  the  colleges  and  universities  is  the  place, 
and  the  student  period  is  the  time,  for  the  religious  forces  to  accom- 
plish perhaps  their  most  strategic  work. 

And,  once  more,  it  is  the  very  genius  of  Christianity  to  touch 
a  few  lives  powerfully,  and  to  malce  these  lives  leaven  for  the  rest. 
Churches  would  be  doing  hardly  less  than  neglecting  their  most 
characteristic  opportunit}',  therefore,  if  they  failed  to  touch  power- 
fully these  nerve-centers  of  the  nation's  life. 

It  is  surely  not  too  much  to  say,  then,  that  the  colleges  and 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    IN    THE    COLLEGE  199 

universities  offer  to  the  Christian  forces  a  field  of  the  most  excep- 
tional importance.  What  are  the  gains  and  losses  in  this  field  ?  I 
can  only  summarize  them  with  the  utmost  brevity. 

II.  Gains  and  Losses.  In  the  first  place,  when  a  considerable 
period  is  taken  into  account,  the  gain  made  in  the  proportion  of 
Christian  men  in  the  colleges  is  notable.  Eecent  trustworthy  sta- 
tistics seem  to  show  that  "while  one  hundred  years  ago  only  8  per 
cent,  of  college  men  were  church  members,  and  five  years  ago,  50 
per  cent.,  now  53  per  cent,  of  them  are  church  members.^' 

In  the  second  place,  there  have  been  great  gains  especially 
through  the  large  development  of  the  worJc  of  the  Young  Men's  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  on  the  side  of  the  expression 
of  the  Christian  life.  In  breadth,  in  spontaneity,  in  seriousness  of 
aims,  and  in  relation  to  service  in  after  life,  the  students  them- 
selves have  been  called  out  on  this  side  of  their  lives  as  almost  never 
before  in  the  history  of  the  world.  The  beautifully  helpful  and  so- 
cial service  rendered  by  the  Associations  at  the  beginning  of  the 
college  year;  the  extensive,  specific,  and  rapidly  growing  work  un- 
dertaken in  the  direction  of  organized  Bible  and  mission  study ;  the 
wide  range  of  the  committee  work  of  the  Associations  in  calling 
many  students  into  active  service  along  varied  lines  of  possible  help- 
fulness of  others ;  and  the  use  of  personal  association  of  student  with 
student  as  a  factor  in  the  moral  and  religious  life  of  the  college  are 
notable  achievements  that  are  to  be  credited  to  the  Association 
work. 

Side  by  side  with  these  gains,  certain  losses  must  also  be  recog- 
nized. Doubtless  in  the  comparative  turning  over  of  the  religious 
life  of  the  college  to  student  direction  there  has  been  some  real  loss 
in  expert  leadership.  I  think  we  cannot  expect, — and  this  should 
be  plainly  said, — the  highest  results  in  religious  education  any 
more  than  in  other  forms  of  education  where  the  entire  leader- 
ship is  committed  to  the  students  themselves.  I  fear  that  in  the 
Association  work,  admirable  as  it  is,  there  has  been  too  little  adapta- 
tion to  individual  institutions — the  same  scheme  being  pressed  in 
every  situation,  even  to  the  direct  hindering  of  important  religious 
work  done  by  the  college  itself. 

In  the  second  place,  the  later  college  life  has,  without  much 
doubt,  shovm,  on  the  part  of  college  teachers,  a  less  sense  of  indi- 
vidual interest  in  students  and  responsibility  for  them.  With  the 
increasing  and  rightful  demand  for  specialists  in  each  subject  of 
study,  there  has  been  a  strong  trend  toward  the  choice  of  men  whose 


aOO  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

primary  interest  was  in  their  subject  rather  than  in  men,  and  who 
had  perhaps  an  investigating  interest  much  more  strongly  than 
character-begetting  power.  At  times  in  our  higher  education  it 
has  seemed  as  if  many  in  the  faculties,  though  recognized  as  Chris- 
tian men,  had  suffered  almost  a  religious  atrophy.  I  am  afraid, 
too,  that  so  far  as  the  faculties'  responsibility  is  concerned,  there 
has  been,  in  most  of  our  liigher  institutions  of  learning,  a  rather 
general  lack  of  a  strong,  intelligent  introduction  to  the  Christian 
faith.  The  Bible  courses,  if  offered  at  all,  have  been  either  ratlier 
inefficient  or  too  merely  literary,  and  the  student  has  had  com- 
paratively little  opportunity  to  come  to  thoughtful  appreciation  of 
the  great  Christian  truths  and  doctrines,  and  the  reasons  for  them ; 
and  his  education,  so  far  as  it  has  depended  upon  the  faculties,  has 
been  all  too  little  a  training  for  large  and  efficient  Christian 
service. 

The  encouraging  thing  in  facing  these  losses,  I  think,  is  that 
it  seems  to  be  true  that  the  colleges  are  themselves  coming  to  a 
fresh  and  strong  reaHzation  of  their  dangers  here.  And  we  may 
probably  confidently  expect,  in  most  of  our  colleges,  in  increasing 
degree,  something  which  fairly  deserves  the  name  of  religious  edu- 
cation.   How  is  this  expectation  to  be  met  ? 

III.  How  the  Opportunity  for  Religious  Education  is  to  be 
Met.  For  myself,  I  must  frankly  say  that  I  do  not  believe  it  will 
ever  be  satisfactorily  met  until  we  have  taken  much  more  seriously 
than  most  colleges  and  universities  have  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  unity  of  man's  nature  and  the  unity  of  education.  The 
greatest  rehgious  failure  in  higher  education  to-day  is  not  the  lack 
of  definite  religious  instruction  or  of  religious  meetings,  of  Bible 
study,  or  of  missionary  information,  but  the  lack  of  any  thorough- 
going consistency  in  the  higher  life  of  the  university — the  sanc- 
tioned presence  of  ideals  and  practices  with  which  no  true  religious 
spirit  can  be  harmonized.  And  in  all  honesty  we  must  deal  first 
with  these. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  certainly  possible  for  all  colleges  and 
universities  alike — and  it  ought  to  be  especially  possible  for  State 
universities,  just  because  they  are  State  institutions — that  they 
should  be  preeminently  law-abiding  communities.  The  State  uni- 
versity in  particular  has  an  opportunity  to  cultivate  directly,  in 
the  course  of  an  education  that  is  the  express  gift  of  the  State,  a 
State — and  citizen — consciousness  that  is  greatly  needed,  and  that 
may  in  time  exert  a  strong  influence,  not  only  upon  other  colleges 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    IN    THE    COLLEGE  201 

and  universities,  but  also  upon  the  general  commuiiity.  Have  the 
State  institutions  sufficiently  seen  that  every  decent  motive  should 
call  for  scrupulous  regard  on  the  part  of  their  students  for  civil 
order  and  complete  obedience  to  law?  The  very  peculiarity  of  the 
situation  within  the  State  imiversity  should  make  it  possible  to  cul- 
tivate a  positive  enthusiasm  toward  the  State,  like  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  Japanese  soldier's  honor.  It  is  not  enough  that  the  president 
of  a  State  university  should  pay,  for  example,  for  restaurant  prop- 
erty that  has  been  smashed  by  student  rowdies.  How  has  it  hap- 
pened that  the  peculiarly  privileged  college  and  university  stu- 
dent has  been  supposed  to  be  especially  excepted  from  obedience  to 
law?  Upon  what  possible  principle,  civil  or  educational,  are  we 
trying  to  combine,  in  the  case  of  the  student,  the  liberty  of  the 
adult  with  the  irresponsibility  of  the  child  ?  Now,  respect  for  law 
is  fundamental  in  all  self-control,  and  therefore  in  all  development 
of  character,  and  is  closely  akin  to  religious  reverence.  And  if  the 
higher  institutions  of  learning  would  simply  throw  the  whole  weight 
of  their  influence  in  favor  of  becoming  preeminently  law-abiding 
communities — and  how  shameful  a  thing  it  is  that  it  has  to  be  even 
suggested — a  very  great  contribution,  therefore,  would  be  made 
to  the  entire  national  life,  which  suffers  to-day,  in  remarkable  de- 
gree, in  all  its  higher  interests,  from  lack  of  respect  for  law.  This 
single  principle,  thoroughly  carried  out — that  the  student  is  to 
obey  the  laws  of  the  State,  and  if  he  does  not,  is  to  be  treated  like 
any  other  violator  of  the  law — would  quite  change  the  spirit  of  many 
a  university. 

In  the  second  place,  the  colleges  and  universities  ought  to  be 
able  to  cultivate  within  their  student  bodies  a  pure  democracy  that 
shall  be  able  to  stand  against  all  forms  of  aristocracy,  of  privilege  of 
any  kind — against  the  aristocracy  of  sex,  of  color,  of  wealth,  of 
the  clique,  and  as  well  against  all  interference  with  the  liberties 
and  rights  and  self-respecting  dignity  of  other  men.  This  should  be 
peculiarly  open  to  a  State  university  in  a  republic,  and  yet,  how 
far  we  are  still  in  most  colleges  from  such  a  true  "democracy  of 
learning"  every  college  man  who  will  honestly  face  the  facts  knows. 
But  just  so  far,  now,  as  the  college  or  university  does  succeed  in 
producing  such  a  pure  democracy,  it  is  making,  in  my  judgment, 
a  direct  religious  contribution ;  for  it  is  bringing  to  pass  within  its 
own  borders,  to  a  considerable  degree,  that  civilization  of  the  broth- 
erly man  which  is  the  very  essence  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  A  man 
or  institution  that  is  in  thorough  earnest  to  bring  to  pass  the 


202  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

civilization  of  his  brother  man  is  doing  more  than  can  well  be 
estimated  to  make  it  easier  for  men  to  believe  in  a  God  of  love. 

In  the  third  place,  it  belongs,  one  may  rightfully  say,  to  the 
State  imiversities  even  more  than  to  the  privately  endowed  institu- 
tions to  insist  on  good  morals  as  training  to  good  citizenship.  The 
State  cannot  justify  to  itself  its  expenditure  upon  universities,  ex- 
cept on  the  ground  that  they  have  a  distinct  contribution  to  make 
in  the  development  of  good  citizens.  We  cannot  too  often  remind 
ourselves  of  that  truth  which  has  recently  been  so  vigorously  re- 
iterated by  President  Butler,  before  the  students  of  Columbia  Uni- 
versity: "This  University  and  all  universities,  in  season  and  out 
of  season,  must  keep  clearly  in  view  before  themselves  and  the  pub- 
lic the  real  meaning  of  character,  and  they  must  never  tire  of 
preaching  that  character  and  character  alone  makes  knowledge, 
skill  and  wealth  a  help  rather  than  a  harm  to  those  who  possess 
them  and  to  the  community  as  a  whole."  That  is  not  funny  in 
college  men,  wherever  it  occurs,  that  would  be  regarded  as  vulgar 
rowdyism,  intolerable  nuisance,  inexcusable  brutality,  or  disgusting 
dissipation  in  workmen.  Are  we  to  apply  a  lower  standard  to  our 
most  highly  educated  men  than  to  others?  And  yet — to  take  a 
single  illustration — in  more  than  one  university,  football  coaches 
are  deliberately  training  men  in  brutality  and  in  violation  of  the 
simplest  rules  of  decency  and  fairness,  and  are  cultivating  in  the 
side  lines  in  just  so  far  the  barbarian  spirit.  Is  it  too  much  to 
ask  that  all  our  higher  institutions  of  learning  should  be,  what  they 
might  easily  become,  leaders  in  developing  men  who  shall  approxi- 
mate at  least  to  a  fulfilment  of  Newman's  famous  definition  of  a 
gentleman,  leaders  in  producing  something  like  truly  knightly 
ideals  on  the  part  of  their  student  bodies  ?  Is  it  too  much  to  ask 
that  the  moral  tone  of  these  institutions  should  be  so  high  and  sa 
insistent  that  the  students  who  come  out  from  them  can  hardly  fail 
to  show  social  efficiency  of  a  high  order?  We  college  presidents 
have  no  right  to  set  a  smaller  goal  before  us.  And  man  is  so  com- 
pletely one  that  the  colleges  that  so  exalt  the  plain  moral  life  will 
fiud  the  religious  motives  and  inspirations  right  at  hand. 

Furthermore,  even  the  State  universities,  as  well  as  all  the  other 
colleges  and  universities,  may  well  remember  that  they  have  noc 
only  a  perfect  right,  but  the  paramount  duty  of  insisting  on  a 
Mgh  personnel,  atmosphere,  and  spirit  in  the  university.  Both 
character  and  faith  come  primarily  by  personal  association,  in 
which  there  is  definite  self-giving  on  both  sides.    Nothing  will  make 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    IN    THE    COLLEGE  203 

good  this  lack.  The  spirit  of  a  college  will  not  go  down  in  its 
buildings  and  grounds.  If  it  continues  and  grows  in  its  power  for 
truth  and  righteousness,  it  must  continue  in  some  personal  lives 
that  have  this  spirit,  and  care  mightily  that  it  shall  continue. 

Once  again,  every  college  and  university,  whether  it  seems  to 
itself  precluded  from  direct  religious  instruction  or  not,  may  make 
a  real  contribution  to  the  higher  Hfe  of  the  nation  in  its  strict  scien- 
tific teaching.  For,  just  so  far  as  the  genuinely  scientific  spirit  is 
preserved  in  the  university,  there  will  be  first,  open-minded,  eager 
love  of  the  truth,  and  humility  toward  it,  that  mean  hardly  less 
than  the  fulfilment  of  the  first  beatitude.  This  same  strict  scientific 
spirit  should  lead,  also,  to  willingness  to  recognize  all  the  data,  and 
the  interests  of  the  entire  man,  and  not  merely  those  data  which  it 
is  most  easy  to  bring  into  a  mathematico-mechanical  view  of  the 
world.  If  we  can  only  keep  unsullied  this  absolute  openness  to  all 
light,  the  ideal  interests  need  have  no  fear.  Scientific  investigation, 
moreover,  for  the  very  reason  that  it  aims  to  push  forward  in  its 
pursuit  of  truth  as  rapidly  as  it  can  on  the  basis  of  facts  already 
ascertained,  is  in  its  very  essence  adopting  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciple of  "treating  the  truth  as  true."  And  this  very  phrase,  I  can- 
not forget,  was  the  definition  of  my  own  old  college  president  of  the 
essence  of  faith.  In  fact,  it  often  seems  to  me  that  if  our  univer- 
sities would  only  carry  through  with  complete  and  radical  con- 
sistency the  scientific  spirit,  that  spirit  would  be  found  to  be  most 
closely  and  inevitably  allied  to  the  humble,  reverent,  obedient  spirit 
of  religion 

Perhaps  the  whole  range  of  the  possibilities  of  the  universities, 
so  far  as  concerns  the  ethical  and  religious  life  of  the  student,  might 
be  put  in  this  way :  The  really  fundamental  temptations  of  life — 
underlying  all  others  of  every  kind — seem  to  me  to  be  the  tempta- 
tion to  abuse  one's  trust,  the  temptation  to  fall  below  one's  high- 
est spiritual  sensitiveness,  the  temptation  to  seek  relief  in  change 
of  circumstances  rather  than  in  change  of  self,  the  temptation  to 
disbelief  in  men,  and  the  temptation  to  disbelief  in  God.  There 
ought  to  be  no  question  that  against  all  of  these,  certainly,  except 
the  last,  even  the  State  university  may  rightfully  cast  its  full 
strength  and  positively  replace  them.  And  if  the  spirit  and  atmos- 
phere and  ideals  of  the  universities  are  such  as  to  prepare  their  stu- 
dents to  withstand  the  first  four,  the  students  will  hardly  fail  to 
come  on  of  themselves  into  that  belief  in  God  which  brings  unity 
and  meaning  into  all  the  rest  of  the  struggle.    In  very  self-defense, 


204  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

the  State  can  hardly  do  less  than  to  require  that  the  spirit  of  its 
institutions  of  learning  should  persistently  cultivate  in  its  students 
loyalty  to  trust  truth  to  their  highest  spiritual  sensitiveness,  deter- 
mination not  to  replace  the  needed  change  of  self  by  an  attempted 
change  of  circumstances,  and  growing  faith  in  men.  Out  of  these, 
if  the  university  attempts  no  more,  will,  with  practical  inevitable- 
ness,  grow  the  spirit  of  trust  in  God. 

If  the  colleges  were  in  dead  earnest  in  the  points  already  men- 
tioned— in  insisting  on  a  preeminently  law-abiding  community,  in 
persistently  cultivating  a  pure  democracy,  in  demanding  good  mor- 
als as  training  for  good  citizenship,  in  maintaining  the  highest  per- 
sonal character  and  ideals  in  the  personnel  of  faculty  and  officials, 
and  in  complete  loyalty  to  the  strict  scientific  spirit,  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  problem  of  religion  in  college  and  university  would 
be  largely  solved. 

Time  does  not  permit  the  suggestion  of  the  important  ways  in 
which  the  direct  religious  education  of  the  college  may  be  carried 
on.  I  must  content  myself  with  saying  simply  that  the  only  abso- 
lutely vital  tilings  for  the  Churches  to  remember,  in  the  work  that 
they  undertake,  whether  within  or  without  the  college,  for  students 
are  the  indispensableness  and  primary  necessity  of  personal  asso- 
ciation, the  inspiration  that  comes  from  the  personal  message  and 
the  personal  life;  the  psychological  imperativeness  of  some  form  of 
expression  for  the  highest  ethical  and  spiritual  life  of  the  student ; 
the  recognition  both  in  this  association  and  in  this  expression  of  the 
student's  own  choice  and  initiative ;  the  clear  discernment,  also,  that 
the  life  of  the  student  is  a  unit,  and  that  all  sides  of  the  university 
life  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  may  count  most 
strongly  for  the  religious  life,  though  they  are  not  so  named;  and 
that,  therefore,  the  religious  work  of  the  Churches  is  not  to  be  re- 
garded as  something  simply  mechanically  tacked  on  to  the  work  of 
the  university,  but  naturally  and  organically  knit  up  with  it. 


THE  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY  AND   MODERN 
LIFE 


The  Rev.  George  Hodges,  D.D.,  D.C.L. 


The  theological  seminary  is  every  day  determining,  for  better, 
for  worse,  the  immediate  future  of  the  Christian  Church. 

For  the  parish  depends  upon  the  parson.  The  sanctuary  may 
be  made  of  marble,  and  adorned  within  with  gold  and  gems;  the 
service  may  be  assisted  by  all  the  uplifting  influences  of  splendid 
music ;  the  parish  house  may  be  equipped  with  every  known  ap- 
pliance of  modem  parochial  machinery;  and  the  people  may  be 
the  best  people  in  the  town;  the  church  may  be  named  All  Saints, 
and  deserve  the  name;  but  if  at  the  head  of  the  parish  there 
is  an  incompetent,  weak,  foolish,  ill-educated,  unspiritual,  or 
otherwise  disagreeable  parson,  all  these  excellencies  go  for  naught. 
The  one  man  makes  or  mars  it.  In  no  other  position  does  per- 
sonality count  so  much.  The  present  happiness,  if  not  the  future 
salvation,  of  all  the  parishioners  is  directly  affected  by  the  min- 
ister. He  may  be  endured  on  Sunday  with  Christian  patience, 
but  his  week-day  ministrations  enter  sooner  or  later  into  the 
most  intimate  experiences  of  his  people.  The  greatest  joys  and 
the  profoundest  sorrows  summon  him,  and  his  presence  makes  a 
difference,  for  good  or  for  ill.  Even  in  the  most  peaceful  parish 
he  can  cause  the  very  elect  to  lose  their  temper. 

And  the  parson  depends  on  the  seminary.  Not  altogether; 
sometimes  a  good  man  comes  out  of  a  poor  school;  sometimes 
the  best  school  fails  to  impress  the  mind  or  heart  of  the  indif- 
ferent student.  But,  even  so,  the  seminary  more  or  less  affects 
the  man.  The  teaching  which  he  there  receives,  the  principles 
and  the  prejudices  with  which  he  is  there  provided,  the  outlook 
with  which  he  contemplates  the  world  and  his  neighbors,  the 
tone  of  the  man,  echoing  inevitably,  even  though  it  be  by  con- 
tradiction, the  tone  of  the  school — all  this  is  brought  straight 
over  from  the  dormitory  to  the  parsonage,  from  the  class  room 
to  the  pulpit.  The  theological  school  is  related  to  the  work  of 
the  ministry  as  the  medical  school  is  related  to  the  work  of  the 
physician. 
305 


206  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Thus  the  seminary,  by  the  mere  fact  of  its  existence,  touches 
modern  life.  It  may  be  a  hindrance  to  the  progress  of  religion. 
Professor  Gwatkin,  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  told  me  in 
the  frankness  of  his  study  that  he  believed  that  it  would  be  a 
good  thing  for  Christianity  in  England  if  all  the  theological  col- 
leges— as  they  call  them  there — were  turned  into  public  houses. 
He  regarded  them  as  coward  castles,  the  citadels  of  partisan  nar- 
rowness. Even  so,  the  seminary  is  a  vital  institution,  to  be  criti- 
cised, to  be  condemned,  perhaps  to  be  pulled  down,  but  at  all 
events  to  be  considered :  if  possible,  to  be  transformed.  The  theo- 
logical seminary  is  the  most  important  institution  of  the  Church. 
Here,  day  by  day,  the  policy,  the  direction,  the  leadership,  the 
life  of  the  Church  is  being  decided. 

The  theological  seminary  is  sometimes  criticised  on  the  ground 
that  its  graduates  are  not  well  trained  to  undertake  the  tasks  of 
their  own  time.  But  a  good  deal  of  this  criticism  comes  from  men 
who  left  the  seminary  forty  years  ago.  Since  that  day  the 
Church  has  undergone  two  great  changes.  It  has  altered  its 
intellectual  attitude,  which  in  the  last  generation  was  rather 
suspicious  of  new  truth,  being  stni  engaged  in  controversy  with 
the  evolutionists  and  with  their  disciples,  the  critics.  It  has 
altered  its  social  attitude,  setting  up  the  new  parish  house  next 
to  the  old  church,  and  occupying  itself  with  ministries  of  which 
former  generations  had  hardly  begun  to  dream.  And  the  suc- 
cessful minister,  into  whose  life  these  new  intellectual  and  social 
activities  daily  enter,  who  is  supremely  concerned  with  these 
modern  interests,  remembers  that  when  he  went  to  school  to 
learn  how  to  be  a  minister  none  of  these  things  were  taught  him. 
But  he  forgets  that  that  was  forty  years  ago.  Since  that  time 
there  have  been  changes  not  only  in  the  Church  but  in  the 
seminary. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  theological  school  is  sometimes  com- 
mended beyond  its  just  deserts  by  those  whose  quiet  lives  are 
spent  withia  its  cloisters,  and  who  think  that  it  is  fitted  for  this 
modern  day  because  they  are  too  remote  from  the  modem  day 
to  understand  it.  They  are  dealing  with  a  situation  which  is 
partly  imaginary  and  partly  obsolete.  They  are  arming  young 
men.  with  old-fashioned  armor,  and  equipping  them  to  fight  with 
foes  who  have  been  long  dead.  From  such  a  school  the  semi- 
narian emerges  into  the  light  of  day  blinking  and  perplexed. 
He  has  been  tutored  by  the  Seven  Sleepers  of  Ephesus.     "With 


THE   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY   AND    MODERN   LIFE     207 

such  a  preparation  he  enters  upon  his  ministry  as  helpless  in 
the  face  of  his  emergencies  as  a  translator  of  Caesar's  Commen- 
taries in  the  face  of  an  invading  army. 

The  great  business  of  the  theological  school  as  an  active 
factor  in  our  modem  world  is  to  bring  men  into  a  right  rela- 
tion with  the  truth.  And  to  this  end  they  are  to  be  given  a 
spirit,  and  a  method,  and  a  message. 

I.  The  young  minister  comes  out  of  the  good  seminary  and  un- 
dertakes the  task  of  teaching  Christian  truth  in  the  spirit  of 
humility.  He  takes  the  notes  of  all  his  lectures,  the  sum  of 
all  that  he  has  learned,  and  on  the  last  page  he  writes  the  word 
of  the  greatest  of  theologians:  "Now  I  know  in  part."  And  he 
realizes  that  what  he  knows  is  but  a  microscopic  part  of  the 
infinity  of  truth.  He  is  very  quick  and  positive  and  definite 
within  the  limits  of  his  knowledge.  "This  one  thing/'  he  says, 
"I  know;''  if  he  can  change  the  number  and  make  it  two,  or 
twelve,  or  thirty-nine,  so  much  the  better.  But,  however  large 
or  small  the  space,  the  ground  beneath  his  fact  is  solid  rock.  That, 
indeed,  is  the  essential  basis  of  humility,  the  name  of  which  is 
derived  from  humus,  meaning  the  honest  earth.  The  humble 
man  is  he  who  takes  his  stand  upon  the  plain  ground. 

When  he  says,  "This  thing  I  know,"  he  does  not  mean  for  a 
moment  to  confine  himself  to  that  which  is  technically  called 
knowledge:  he  includes  faith.  He  expresses  his  conviction.  He 
goes  out  into  his  ministry  with  a  certain  body  of  assured  con- 
victions.   These  he  has  tried,  and  proved :  thus  far  he  knows. 

And  this  affects  him,  as  a  student  and  as  a  teacher  of  the 
truth,  in  two  ways:  It  makes  him  slow  to  deny,  and  it  makes 
him  quick  to  appreciate.  That  is,  on  one  side,  in  the  presence 
of  the  old  associations  of  the  Church  and  of  the  Scriptures,  he 
is  very  reluctant  to  give  a  negative  judgment.  Is  it  a  discredited 
miracle?  Is  it  a  discarded  doctrine?  Nevertheless  it  may  be 
an  open  door  into  a  region  which  he  does  not  understand  because 
it  transcends  his  experience.  He  has  learned  in  his  study  of 
Church  history  that  the  heretic  is  commonly  the  man  who  says, 
"Now  I  know  it  all."  The  error  of  most  heresy  is  in  the  assertion 
that  all  truth  is  thereby  explained  adequately.  To  the  heretic, 
nothing  is  mysterious  or  inexplicable.  The  humble  scholar  saves 
himself  from  the  mistakes  of  heresy  by  his  recognition  of  his 
own  ignorance. 


a06  CHVRCE    FEDERATION 

And,  on  the  other  side,  in  the  face  of  the  new  assertions  of 
the  audacious  philosophers  and  of  the  adventurous  critics,  the 
man  of  humble  spirit  holds  out  hands  of  glad  hospitality.  He 
believes  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  still  engaged  in  his  great  task  of 
holding  men  toward  truth,  and  that  new  truth  is  accordingly  to 
be  expected.  He  is  on  the  lookout  for  it,  and  when  he  hears 
of  a  new  book  which  promises  to  tell  him  something  which  he 
did  not  know  before,  out  he  goes  to  get  it,  as  John  and  Andrew 
went  out  of  commonplace  Capernaum  to  hear  what  John  the 
Baptist  had  to  say.  And  though  he  finds  that  the  new  truth  is 
not  new,  or  is  not  true,  he  is  not  disposed  to  revile  the  preacher. 
Only  by  the  way  of  many  blunders,  only  by  dint  of  unsuccessful 
experiments,  is  truth  attained.  Every  man  who  is  honestly  trying 
to  attain  it  is  the  brother  of  the  minister  who  has  learned  in 
the  seminary  to  meet  truth  in  a  humble  spirit. 

11.  The  seminary  is  also  to  equip  men  with  an  effective 
method,  both  of  studying  and  of  teaching  truth.  Here  the  choice 
is  between  two  kinds  of  procedure,  one  of  which  we  may  call 
the  way  of  dogma,  and  the  other  the  way  of  doctrine.  Accord- 
ing to  the  method  of  dogma,  the  ground  on  which  the  minister 
receives  truth  for  himself  and  expects  his  people  to  receive  it 
in  their  turn  is  the  ground  of  authority.  According  to  the  meth- 
ods of  doctrine,  the  basis  of  truth  is  reason.  The  man  who 
has  learned  to  use  the  first  of  these  methods  says  to  himself: 
"What  do  they  say  ?"  and  by  "the/'  he  means  the  men  of  old 
time,  the  framers  of  the  formularies.  Having  found  the  answer 
to  his  question,  he  goes  into  his  pulpit  and  says,  "Brethren,  thus 
and  so  you  must  believe,  because  it  is  written  thus  and  so  in 
the  writings  of  St.  John  Chrysostom  or  of  St.  John  Calvin." 
This  is  an  admirable  method.  It  is  an  appeal  to  the  wisdom  of 
men  who  are  wiser  than  either  the  preacher  or  his  people.  It  is 
also  simple  and  easy ;  and  it  goes  a  good  way  to  answer  the  prayer 
of  the  minister  who  prayed  before  the  sermon  that  the  Lord 
would  grant  his  hearers  "intellectual  repose."  I  wish  that  we 
could  use  it;  it  would  solve  the  hard  problem  of  the  making  of 
the  sermon,  and  set  us  free  to  do  our  parish  work. 

But  the  way  of  dogma  is  beset  by  two  serious  diflSculties :  it  is 
discarded  by  the  college  and  it  is  derided  by  the  congregation. 
It  was  once  the  universal  usage  of  the  college.  The  task  of  the 
teacher  was  to  find  what  the  old  masters  had  said  and  to  dictat-e 


REV.    GEORGE    U.    WENNER,    D.D.  REV.    JAMES    M.    BUCKLEY,    D.D.,    LL.D. 


REV.    GEORGE    HODGES,    D.D.,    D.C.L.  REV.   HEXRY   C.   KING,   D.D. 


THE   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY   AND   MODERN   LIFE     209 

this  to  his  pupils,  and  then  to  hear  them  recite  it  word  for  word. 
But  to-day  there  is  no  school  of  any  kind — except  here  and  there 
a  belated  school  of  theology — in  which  any  matter  of  importance 
is  settled  by  the  word  of  anybody  who  has  been  dead  a  hundred 
years.  The  law  school  is  indeed  the  paradise  of  precedent,  and 
authority  is  there  treated,  as  it  ought  to  be,  with  all  respect. 
But  in  the  law  school  the  text-book  system  is  everywhere  giving 
way  to  the  case  system.  That  is,  instead  of  being  given  law  ready- 
made  in  formulas,  men  are  now  taught  to  use  their  own  minds. 
A  concrete  case  is  set  before  them.  Their  study  is  immediately 
and  vitally  related  to  the  actual  present  Avorld.  The  men  are 
made  to  think.  As  for  the  medical  school,  the  old  doctors  and 
their  treatises  are  of  interest  only  to  the  antiquarian.  Galen, 
who  was  a  contemporary  of  Justin  Martyr  and  of  Irenseus,  would 
not  be  taken  into  consultation  to-day  by  the  dullest  student  in 
the  senior  class.  He  is  as  obsolete  as  Hippocrates.  The  young 
man  in  the  medical  school  is  studying  the  human  body,  and 
though  he  also  studies  books  about  the  body,  the  chief  business 
of  his  life  is  with  the  physical  facts.  As  for  the  books,  they  are 
of  value  in  proportion  to  their  newness.  The  acceptance  of  truth 
on  the  basis  of  ancient  authority  has  no  longer  any  position  among 
men  of  learning. 

If  it  had,  the  fact  would  not  help  us,  because  this  method 
is  derided  by  the  congregation.  Part  of  them  are  actively  indig- 
nant, as  educated  persons,  when  they  are  told  that  Chrysostom  or 
Calvin  worked  all  these  things  out  long  ago,  and  nothing  is  left 
for  us  but  to  accept  their  conclusions;  and  the  others,  who  are 
quite  indifferent,  go  to  sleep  when  we  begin  to  quote.  At  that 
moment,  when  the  holy  father  of  the  fourth  century  begins  to 
preach  the  sermon,  the  people  cease  to  attend  to  what  is  said. 
Their  interest  is  instinctively  attached  to  personality.  They  are 
interested  in  what  the  preacher  can  say  to  them  out  of  his  ovm 
experience,  and  in  the  truth  which  he  can  tell  them  as  the 
result  of  his  own  thought,  and  in  whatever  else  he  has  first  made 
his  own.  But  these  jnusty  sentences,  copied  out  of  ancient  vol- 
umes, these  sermons  unimaginably  old,  do  not  impress  them.  Nor 
are  they  ever  willing,  at  this  time  of  day,  to  have  the  preacher 
say,  "This  is  true  because  I  tell  you."  Nothing  is  true  to  any 
modem  man  which  he  has  not  in  some  way  got  hold  of  with  his 
own  mind. 

The  dogmatic  method  will  not  work.     In  the  good  seminary, 


210  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

the  scientific  method  has  long  since  taken  its  place.  And  that 
means  the  undistracted  following  of  truth.  It  presupposes  that 
the  cause  of  the  truth  and  the  cause  of  the  Church  are  absolutely 
and  everlastingly  identical,  and  that  every  man  who  is  trying  to 
free  truth  from  error  is  engaged  in  a  work  on  which  the  Church 
invokes  a  blessing.  All  truth  is  orthodox;  all  error,  wherever 
found,  is  heresy. 

III.  Men  must  be  sent  out  of  the  seminary  with  a  right  spirit 
and  with  a  valid  method;  but  the  main  thing  is  that  every  man 
shall  have  a  message.  His  chief  business  is  to  preach,  in  public 
and  in  private,  by  word  and  by  example,  and  he  must  know  posi- 
tively what  he  is  to  preach.  St.  Paul  put  the  Christian  message 
into  two  words,  when  he  said,  "We  preach  Christ  crucified." 

The  seminary  must  teach  the  minister  to  preach  Christ.  It 
must  send  him  into  modern  life  as  an  ambassador  of  the  Relig- 
ion of  Revelation.  Men  are  asking  to-day,  as  always,  the  ele- 
mental and  imperative  questions  of  humanity:  Is  there  a  God? 
If  there  is,  does  He  care  for  us?  If  He  does  care  for  us,  why 
do  we  suffer?  And,  after  our  life  is  done,  what  is  there  then? 
And  to  these  questions  the  Christian  minister  has  plain,  definite 
and  positive  answers.  At  these  answers  men  have  guessed  since 
the  world  began;  and  the  wisest  philosopher  has  got  no  further 
than  a  guess,  because  these  matters  transcend  experience.  The 
message  of  Christianity  is  that  God  Himself  has  spoken.  God 
Himself,  made  man  in  Jesus  Christ,  has  taken  the  everlasting 
questions  one  by  one  and  answered  them.  There  is  a  God,  and 
He  is  our  Father;  He  cares  for  us  and  loves  us  every  one.  Pain 
comes,  indeed,  and  the  problem  of  it  is  unsolved,  but  the  cross 
shows  how  pain  and  love  do  as  a  fact  exist  together.  And  after 
death  is  life.  Not  one  of  these  fundamental  assertions  is  capable 
of  ordinary  proof.  Nevertheless,  the  happiness  of  human  life 
depends  upon  them.  The  minister  stands  in  the  midst  of  the 
community,  sent  by  Jesus  Christ  with  a  message  from  on  high, 
to  tell  men  in  God's  name  that  these  things  are  true.  The  heart 
of  his  message,  the  word  of  it,  and  the  worth  of  it,  is  Jesus  Christ. 

Also  the  seminary  must  send  the  minister  into  modern  life 
as  an  ambassador  of  the  Religion  of  Redemption.  His  message 
is  not  only  Christ,  but  Christ  crucified.  That  means  the  su- 
premacy of  character,  and  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  and  the  gift 
of  grace.    It  means  the  supremacy  of  character.    The  message  of 


THE   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY   AND    MODERN    LIFE     211 

the  minister  has  to  do  not  only  with  truth  but  with  life:  he  is 
to  tell  men  that  the  great  thing  that  God  cares  for  is  a  good  life, 
whereof  Jesus  Christ  has  set  the  ideal.  He  is  to  tell  men  in 
detail  what  sort  of  living  the  Christian  life  implies.  His  business 
is  with  character.  But  we  fall  below  this  high  ideal,  miserably 
below  it,  to  our  shame,  to  the  distress  of  our  soul.  We  are  not 
worthy  to  be  called  the  sons  of  God.  Then  comes  the  minister 
declaring  to  all  truly  penitent  persons  the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
assuring  men  that  God  will  not  count  the  past  against  us.  And 
this  he  does  by  virtue  of  the  cross,  in  the  light  of  that  sacrifice 
by  which  the  sin  of  the  world  is  taken  away.  Then  we  say  "Yes, 
but  after  penitence  is  sin  again;  the  past  is  past  but  the  future 
comes  with  no  assurance  of  amendment."  And  in  answer  the 
minister  in  God's  name  promises  the  gift  of  grace.  He  brings 
men  into  the  Christian  society,  the  Church,  and  there  admits 
them  to  the  sacraments  of  strength  and  blessing,  to  the  divine 
opportunity  of  renewal,  to  the  divine  help  toward  a  good  life. 
The  two  great  facts  for  which  the  Christian  minister  stands  are 
Revelation  and  Eedemption.  These  two  make  his  message.  His 
characteristic  and  supreme  service  to  our  modem  world  is  to  make 
these  two  facts  plain. 

IV.  I  said  that  the  great  business  of  the  theological  school  is  to 
bring  men  into  a  right  relation  with  the  truth.  For  that  implies 
a  right  relation  with  life  itself.  The  man  who  brings  from  the 
seminary  the  Christian  spirit,  the  Christian  method  and  the 
Christian  message  is  likely  to  be  in  true  sympathy  with  the  place 
and  time  in  which  he  lives. 

The  seminary  ought,  indeed,  to  provide  instruction  in  the 
studies  which  are  connected  with  practical  efficiency.  Beside  the 
chair  of  theology  must  stand  the  chair  of  sociology,  in  order  that 
men  may  read  intelligently  in  the  open  book  of  modern  life. 
They  ought  to  know  what  the  social  situation  is,  and  what  the 
contemporary  movements  mean,  and  what  their  part  should  be. 
They  ought  to  be  able  to  interpret  the  unrest,  the  aspiration, 
even  the  social  errors  of  their  day,  first  to  themselves,  then  to 
their  people.  Twenty  years  ago  the  centre  of  modern  interest 
was  in  the  relation  between  religion  and  science;  ten  years  ago 
it  was  in  the  relation  between  religion  and  Scripture;  at  this 
moment  the  heart  of  the  situation  is  in  the  relation  between 
religion  and  society.    And  to  understand  this,  the  college  course 


212  CHURCH    FEDERATION/ 

in  economics  is  not  enough.  It  needs  to  be  supplemented  in  the 
seminary  by  instruction  in  the  social  opportunity  of  the  Christian 
minister.  He  ought  to  know  the  principles  of  the  administration 
of  charity  for  the  best  good  of  men.  He  ought  to  be  acquainted 
with  the  significance  of  the  great  endeavors  after  industrial,  eco- 
nomic and  civic  betterment. 

Also  beside  the  chair  of  systematic  divinity  should  stand  the 
chair  of  systematic  humanity.  Young  men  ought  to  be  sent  into 
the  ministry  with  some  knowledge  of  men,  and  of  the  various 
procedure  which  has  been  found  to  be  effective  with  human  be- 
ings. The  business  of  fishing,  to  which  our  Lord  compared  the 
ministry,  is  concerned  not  only  with  the  bait  but  with  the  fish. 
What  are  the  best  ways  of  getting  hold  of  people?  What  is 
the  philosophy,  what  in  detail  is  the  method  of  the  parish  house  ? 
I  would  not  introduce  into  the  theological  school  a  course  in 
ecclesiastical  manual  training,  nor  attempt  to  teach  much  about 
parish  work  by  a  course  of  lectures.  Geology  must  be  learned 
in  the  field,  and  pastoral  theology  in  the  parish.  Thoreau  says 
that  when  he  was  graduated  at  Harvard  they  told  him  that  he 
had  studied  navigation.  He  had  not  learned  anything  about  it, 
because  his  teacher  had  never  taken  him  anywhere  near  the 
water.  He  had  gone  to  sea  in  a  dry  book.  A  single  trip  down 
the  harbor  would  have  taught  him  more  than  all  the  recitations. 
Thus  young  men  learn  more  about  a  parish  in  the  experience  of 
a  month  of  actual  ministration  than  can  ever  be  taught  them 
in  the  class  room. 

The  best  thing  which  the  theological  school  gives  men  to 
carry  into  practical  life  is  not  instruction,  but  inspiration.  What 
they  need  is  not  a  prescription,  but  an  outlook,  a  point  of  view,  a 
certain  interest  in  human  beings,  a  deep  sympathy  with  present 
life,  an  enthusiasm  and  eagerness  to  get  into  it. 

Sometimes  a  man  escapes  from  the  seminary  with  the  idea 
that  there  are  two  classes  of  men,  clergymen  and  laj^men;  and 
that  the  clerical  class  is  both  superior  and  distinct;  and  that 
therefore  the  minister,  establishing  himself  in  his  parish,  is  to 
take  complete  possession  of  it,  and  manage  it  in  his  own  way. 
The  motto  of  this  ministry  is,  "The  laity  be  hanged." 

Sometimes  better  men,  even  men  of  saintly  character,  leave 
the  seminary  and  undertake  their  work  in  the  spirit  of  the  saying, 
"He  who  would  do  anything  for  the  world  must  have  nothing 
to  do  with  it."     They  betake  themselves  to  prayer,  and  to  the 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION   BY   THE   PRESS  213 

celebration  of  sacraments,  and  to  a  life  of  self-sacrifice.  They 
thereby  save  souls.  For  every  kind  of  goodness  is  convincing  to 
somebody.  But  they  do  not  save  men's  souls.  They  do  not  touch 
the  life  of  common,  daily  temptation.  Their  service  is  related  to 
the  true  work  of  the  ministry  as  the  gentle  reading  of  Isaak  Wal- 
ton's "Compleat  Angler,"  under  a  shady  tree,  is  related  to  the 
catching  of  fish. 

The  seminary  must  teach  men  that  the  minister  is  to  be  the 
servant,  not  the  master,  of  his  people,  and  that  he  is  to  exercise 
his  ministry  in  the  common  world,  being  a  good  neighbor,  and  a 
good  citizen,  and  a  good  man.  And  this  it  is  to  enforce  by  the 
admonition  of  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  to  remind  men 
how  He  who  prayed  upon  the  mountain  came  down  when  He 
preached  and  stood  in  the  plain.  The  seminary  stands  square 
with  modem  life  when  by  precept  and  by  example,  in  every  class 
room,  and  in  the  intercourse  of  every  day,  it  gives  men  social 
inspiration. 


RELIGIOUS^   EDUCATION    BY    THE    PRESS 


The  Rev.  James  M.  Buckley,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


The  greatest  orator  which  this  country  ever  produced  said  that 
there  was  this  consolation  in  being  the  last  speaker:  the  audience 
by  that  time  gets  its  second  wind.  No  one  but  Mr.  Beecher  would 
have  thought  of  that.  The  theme  assigned  to  me  is  "Keligious 
Education  by  the  Press,"  and  to  impose  six  didactic  speeches  upon 
an  audience  seems  to  me  to  be  a  wholesale  attempt  at  religious  edu- 
cation by  the  press.  Nevertheless,  rather  than  not  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  aggrandize  my  own  profession,  I  would  be  content  to  be 
placed  in  any  situation  so  long  as  Plato  remained ;  and  I  perceive 
here  a  sufficient  number  of  intelligent  men  whom  I  know,  and  pre- 
sumptively an  equal  number  of  the  same  class  whom  I  do  not  know, 
to  make  a  half  dozen  audiences  honorable  to  any  man  if  they  re- 
mained to  listen  to  him. 

All  the  early  religions  except  the  lowest  depended  upon  manu- 
scripts. Some  years  ago  we  were  told  that  Moses  never  wrote  any- 
thing because  nobody  could  read  or  write  in  the  time  when  he  ap- 


214  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

peared.  Xow  they  tell  us  that  the  Babylonians  could  write  ages 
before  ]\Ioses  appeared,  and  nobody  doubts  that  Moses  could  write 
except  the  persons  who  deny  that  Moses  wrote  anything.  They  are 
like  extreme  higher  criticism  with  regard  to  Homer:  they  deny 
that  the  poems  of  Homer  were  written  by  Homer,  and  declare  they 
were  written  by  another  man  of  the  same  name.  The  East  Indians 
tell  us  the  most  extraordinary  stories  of  manuscripts  produced  two 
thousand  years  before  Christ.  The  Persians  do  the  same,  and  Max 
Muller  wrote  some  of  his  best  books  on  the  ancient  writings  of  the 
great  religions.  The  Mohammedans  did  much  with  manuscripts, 
and  many  of  their  ancient  manuscripts  are  now  prized  by  Mussul- 
mans wherever  they  exist,  so  that  it  has  been  recently  said  by  a  dis- 
tinguished Mohammedan,  in  connection  with  that  mysterious  mon- 
arch in  Morocco,  that  he  would  die  for  one  page  of  the  Koran  two 
hundred  years  old,  provided  it  was  written  with  a  hand  of  a  true 
follower  of  the  prophet.  The  ancients  preserved  more  in  propor- 
tion of  important  religious  books  than  of  any  other  character. 
Taking  up  the  books  mentioned  in  classical  writings  that  do  not 
now  exist,  and  comparing  them  with  any  possible  known  books  that 
existed  in  the  Middle  Ages,  it  will  be  found — this  is  upon  high 
German  authority,  and  thousands  will  believe  that  who  would  not 
believe  divine  revelation — that  in  all  ages  more  religious  books  have 
been  saved  in  proportion  to  the  whole  mass  of  books  than  of  any 
other  kind. 

The  art  of  printing  made  a  great  change.  See  what  it  can  do. 
In  a  little  more  than  a  hundred  years  the  American  Bible  Society 
and  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  have  printed  in  a  great 
number  of  languages  and  dialects  and  distributed  no  less  than 
280,000,000  copies.  Some  of  the  copies  did  not  include  the  whole 
Bible,  but  no  copy  is  here  computed  in  the  general  amount  that  does 
not  at  least  represent  as  much  of  the  Bible  as  would  be  contained 
in  the  Gospels  and  the  Book  of  Acts.  Note  the  fact  that  in  addition 
to  the  Bible  the  press  furnishes  the  world  with  Bible  helps,  with  all 
sorts  of  helps,  so  as  to  make  an  ordinary  Sunday  School  teacher,  to 
say  nothing  of  a  minister,  capable  of  expounding  week  after  week 
with  ever  fresh  illustrations.  Marvellous  fact:  One  man  in  a  cer- 
tain town  was  elected  to  the  legislature  by  reason  of  what  he  got 
out  of  these  helps !  The  people  supposed  that  a  man  who  would  be 
as  deep  in  all  things  as  one  book  published  by  the  Oxford  Press  had 
made  him — though  they  thought  he  derived  it  by  general  study — 
must  be  reliable  in  any  position,  and  so  they  elected  him  to  the 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION   BY    TEE   PRESS  215 

legislature,  vainly  supposing  that  knowledge  was  a  necessary  quali- 
fication for  that  place. 

Consider  also  how  much  good  has  been  done  by  the  preee  in 
preparing  Bibles  to  be  presented  to  young  men  on  their  birthdays,, 
or  when  they  go  to  college,  or  when  they  go  to  the  cities,  and  to 
present  to  people  when  fhey  are  married.  One  Congregational 
minister  declared  that  he  brought  a  hundred  people  into  the  Church 
by  presenting  them  with  handsome  Bibles  when  he  married  them. 
His  salary  was  large  and  his  wife  had  an  income. 

Consider  our  books  of  theology.  Some  of  them  are  entitled  "The 
Eeconstruction  of  Theology,"  and  others  "The  Vindication  of  the 
Ancient  Theology."  Whoever  reads  a  theological  book  must  forget 
it  or  continue  to  read  theological  books.  Science  itself  cannot  keep 
up  except  in  monographs,  but  as  for  theology,  it  admits  of  so  much 
imagination  and  so  much  assertion,  it  is  perfectly  certain  that  the 
only  way  for  a  man  to  do  any  thinking  is  either  to  avoid  reading 
or  to  read  everything  that  is  printed.  It  is  the  press  that  prints 
the  prayer  books ;  it  is  the  press  that  prints  the  hymnals ;  it  is  the 
press  that  gives  us  all  our  intellectual  equipment;  and  I  must  say 
it  is  the  press  that  has  put  an  end  very  largely — and  this  is  not  a 
merit — to  the  old-fashioned  conversations  and  friendly  arguments 
upon  all  these  questions.  Every  one  is  afraid  to  say  anything  lest 
the  man  to  whom  he  speaks  has  read  the  book  that  filled  him  up. 

The  press  must  be  considered  under  the  form  of  the  leaflet,  the 
tract,  the  pamphlet,  the  book  and  the  periodical.  One  can  say  a 
thing  upon  a  leaflet,  well  printed,  which  will  make  a  specific  impres- 
sion. It  is  well  adapted  to  distribute  news,  spread  notice  of  coming 
events,  direct  attention  to  larger  works,  stir  thought  and  emotion 
and  stimulate  to  immediate  action;  and  it  is  well  adapted  to  reach 
the  young,  the  uneducated,  those  who  shun  books,  but  are  willing 
to  read  a  little,  and  the  large  class  of  the  careless. 

It  is  difficult  to  distinguish  the  tract  from  the  pamphlet.  Never- 
theless, the  popular  mind  does  distinguish  them.  The  tract  has 
been  a  mighty  power  in  all  ages.  The  tract  and  the  pamphlet  had 
more  to  do  with  the  French  Eevolution  than  all  the  oratory  of  the 
people.  Was  it  not  the  elder  Disraeli  that  said :  "Wherever  tracts 
abound  there  is  freedom" ;  therefore,  "England  has  always  been  a 
nation  of  pamphleteers."  Eecall  what  the  tracts  did  in  the  time  of 
Tractarianism.  They  nearly  split  the  Church  of  England.  Tract 
No.  90,  written  by  John  Henry  Newman,  when  condemned  by  the 
Bishops  and  the  heads  of  colleges,  led  him  and  a  few  of  his  friends. 


216  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

under  cover  of  being  led  by  the  "kindly  Kght,"  to  leave  the  Church 
of  England  and  enter  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church,  On  the  other 
hand,  they  left  Dr.  Pusey  to  keep  on  writing  tracts,  which  have 
made  a  broad  division  in  the  English  Church  and  are  much  debated 
in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.     Sneer  not  at  the  tract. 

As  to  the  pamphlet,  what  did  Thomas  Paine  do  with  the  pam- 
phlet signed  "Common  Sense"  ?  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  Revo- 
lution would  have  begun  as  soon  as  it  did,  continued  as  long  as  it 
did,  and  triumphed  as  gloriously  as  it  did  if  it  had  not  been  for 
Thomas  Paine's  tracts  on  the  rights  of  man.  George  Washington 
himself  said  so,  and  threw  his  influence  in  favor  of  both  State  and 
Federal  recognition  of  and  compensation  to  Thomas  Paine.  The 
State  of  New  York  gave  him  (not  for  his  attacks  on  religion, 
but  for  his  pamphlets  in  the  interest  of  freedom)  his  estate  at 
New  Rochelle,  and  much  more  was  given  to  him.  Subsequent  his- 
torians have  increased  their  tribute  to  the  influence  of  Paine's 
"Eights  of  Man."  But  he  turned  his  power  against  religion  and 
he  wrought  awful  havoc ;  and  the  evil  would  have  been  far  greater 
if  tracts  of  a  similar  nature  had  not  been  written  against  his  tracts. 
People  laugh  nowadays  at  Watson's  "Apology  for  the  Bible,"  but 
if  they  will  read  Paine's  book  on  "The  Age  of  Reason"  and  then 
read  that,  they  will  discover  something  which,  if  they  are  able  to 
comprehend  the  "Apology,"  will  assist  them  in  disbelieving  a  large 
part  of  "The  Age  of  Reason"— and  that  was  only  one  of  thirty  able 
answers. 

The  book  is  another  and  a  different  means  of  informing  and  im- 
pressing men.  A  leaflet  is  written  currente  calamo.  A  man  writes 
it  rapidly  as  it  comes  out  of  his  head,  and  he  does  not  criticise  it 
much.  The  tract,  unless  controversial,  is  too  often  written  in  the 
same  way.  The  pamphlet  is  for  a  specific  thing  and  a  transient 
occasion,  but  the  book  is  very  different.  There  one  can  elaborate; 
there  one  can  answer  all  the  questions  that  an  opponent  suggests, 
and  also  all  the  questions  that  any  one  will  ever  be  able  to  suggest. 
This  you  can  do  with  condensation,  which  secures  meditation  when 
the  book  is  being  read.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  majority  of  our 
religious  books  are  light  in  contents.  They  are  often  the  selling  of 
paper  at  a  high  price  per  pound.  The  margins  take  up  half  the 
book,  the  print  is  immensely  large,  and  the  spaces  are  broad.  Few 
really  powerful  books  are  now  being  issued  in  the  interest  of  re- 
ligion, but  some  of  great  intellectual  strength  and  spiritual  fervor 
appear  at  intervals.     As  for  works  of  fiction  in  religion,  the  ma- 


BELiaiOVS   EDUCATION   BY   THE   PRESS  217 

jority  of  them  show  the  hand  of  Cain  rather  than  that  of  Abel,  and 
the  consequence  is— it  is  hard  to  say  it — but,  excepting  John 
Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  and  a  few  other  novels  dealing  with 
Christian  experience  or  duty,  fiction  has  done  little  good  to  Chris- 
tianity. It  may,  perhaps,  have  done  some  good  to  minds  enervated 
by  disease  or  revolving  in  an  atmosphere  of  mysticism.  If  there  be 
anything  really  in  the  outcome,  these  people,  taking  it,  like  a  kind 
of  lemonade,  through  a  straw,  may  hold  at  last  tight  to  some  one 
thing,  but  in  a  pastorate  of  twenty-two  years  all  the  prescriptions 
I  made  of  works  of  fiction,  as  the  medical  men  sometimes  say, 
yielded  "few  results,  and  most  of  them  not  worth  tabulating." 

The  quarterly  or  monthly  review  is  practically  a  book.  Many 
of  these  periodicals  present  side  by  side  articles  written  by  Agnostics, 
Comtists,  Spirituahsts,  Unitarians,  Trinitarians,  Theists,  Pan- 
theists, Idealists  and  Materialists,  any  of  whom  may  express  their 
views  without  let  or  hindrance.  The  monthly  magazines,  with 
greater  variety  and  some  degree  of  editorial  comment,  differ  from 
the  quarterlies  in  variety  and  current  interest,  and  they  often  have 
departments  admitting  editorials  and  shorter  contributions.  They 
are  great  powers;  they  must  be  read.  Some  of  them  are  of  the 
highest  grade. 

I  now  come  to  the  daily  press.  The  daily  press  is  divided  into 
three  classes : 

The  function  of  the  weekly  paper  is  to  present  a  combination 
of  news,  literature  and  politics,  and  local  or  general  gossip.  The 
daily  newspaper  floats  to  the  door  of  every  house  a  miscellaneous 
cargo,  including  facts,  fancies  and  fabrications,  and  more  or  less 
fragmentary  discussions  of  every  subject  which  will  contribute  to 
the  interest  of  the  paper  and  the  increase  of  its  circulation.  All 
these  classes  of  papers  deal  with  morals,  and  on  that  subject — 
except  in  those  which  approach  the  true  ideal — there  is  sometimes 
a  strong  contrast  between  the  editorial  and  other  parts  of  the  paper. 
Much  attention  is  given  by  the  press  to  religion.  The  difficulty  in 
connection  with  the  periodical  press  generally,  relative  to  religion, 
is  that  it  is  governed  by  commercial  conditions.  Formerly  books 
were  expensive,  and  their  possession  the  privilege  of  a  few.  At 
present  they  are  sold  at  low  price,  and  the  advertisements  of  them 
in  the  secular  press  and  the  editorial  notices  secured  by  the  pub- 
lishers often  unite  to  spread  the  most  dangerous  sentiments  in 
morals  and  religion.  So  powerful  are  the  commercial  interests  in- 
volved that  even  the  publishing  houses  established  by  Churches  for 


218  CEVRCH    FEDERATION 

the  promotion  of  the  doctrines  on  which  those  Churches  are  founded 
are  not  always  free  from  the  charge  of  circulating  doctrines  entirely 
inimical  on  some  points  to  the  views  held  by  the  Churches. 

There  is  another  method  of  classifying  the  secular  press.  There 
are  the  nugatory,  the  really  effective  in  a  good  cause,  and  the  caterers 
to  the  lowest  thoughts  and  the  most  vulgar  or  the  most  desperate 
feelings.  And  besides  these,  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  repeat,  there  is 
another  class  whose  editorials  are  worthy  of  a  place  with  Addison's 
essays,  but  everything  that  is  condemned  in  the  editorials  is  pro- 
duced in  most  attractive  forms  in  the  rest  of  the  paper,  I  will  not 
specify  the  papers,  for  if  they  are  not  generally  known  it  would  be 
a  sin  to  make  them  known,  and  if  they  are  generally  known  it  would 
be  a  waste  of  time  to  name  them.  But  I  can  say  that  the  best  of  the 
daily  press  is  useful  to  religion.  They  give  news,  they  arouse  right 
feelings,  they  admit  contributors,  they  promote  discussion,  and  that 
is  better  than  stagnation  and  silence ;  and  when  they  finish  the  dis- 
cussion this  class  of  papers  usually,  though  catering  a  little  to  the 
other  side,  close  the  discussion  in  the  interest  of  morality  and  rever- 
ence. The  Sunday  newspaper  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  greatest 
foes  of  Sabbath  keeping.  It  is  a  blanket  affair.  Look  through  the 
windows  and  you  see  every  member  of  the  family  with  a  part  of  the 
blanket  on  Sunday  morning.  He  who  says  that  the  Sunday  news- 
paper is  any  help  to  Christianity  is  above  or  below  my  plane  of  per- 
ception, and  therefore  I  am  unfit  to  argue  with  him.  Neverthe- 
less, there  are  some  brethren  who  think  they  can  do  the  Church 
good  by  writing  for  the  Sunday  papers.  One  man  told  me  this 
with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  I  said  to  him :    "Are  you  candid  ?" 

"Yes." 

"How  much  did  you  get  for  that  article  ?" 

"Fifty  dollars." 

"Very  good ;  much  less  has  brought  tears  to  men's  eyes  when  they 
thought  of  losing  such  a  business  as  that." 

Papers  of  another  class  speak  most  irreverently  and  contemptu- 
ously of  religion.  Ignoring  the  consistent  and  faithful  pastor,  they 
magnify  the  eccentricities  of  pulpit  clowns  and  devote  more  atten- 
tion to  the  occasional  moral  lapses  of  ministers  than  to  any  other 
subject  except  prizefights  and  divorce  cases.  They  have  the  largest 
circulation,  and  that  among  persons  who  most  need  moral  and  re- 
ligious influence.  Thus  they  promote  vice  and  demoralize  the 
weaker  type  of  young  ministers,  and  the  congregations  among  whose 
members  they  circulate. 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION   BY   THE   PRESS  219 

The  Church  press  may  be  roughly  divided  into  three  classes. 
Those  entirely  devoted  to  sectarian  interests.  These  have  little  or 
no  interest  in  any  part  of  the  Christian  world  or  in  any  religious 
communion  excepting  their  own.  With  the  exception  of  a  little 
general  news  clipped  from  secular  papers,  without  comparison  or 
authentication,  and  information  about  their  own  body,  and  editorials 
feeble  upon  general  topics,  and  more  hysterical  than  vigorous  dis- 
cussion of  controversial  issues,  they  cater  to  the  tastes  of  the  most 
nearsighted  of  their  constituents.  Many  of  this  class  of  papers  are 
unknown  to  the  general  public.  Only  a  classified  list  of  the  news- 
papers of  the  United  States  will  reveal  the  number  of  them,  and 
when  specimen  copies  are  secured  it  would  seem  that  the  dates  might 
safely  be  changed  and  the  year  1805  substituted  for  1905.  The 
second  class — the  largest  and  best  supported — are  denominational 
papers  that  regard  themselves  as  peculiarly  representative  of  the 
communion  to  which  the  editors  and  publishers  belong,  but  at  the 
same  time  display  a  deep  interest  in  Christianity  and  its  progress. 
They  are  generally  edited  in  the  spirit  of  amity  and  comity.  Only 
an  attack  upon  their  distinctive  denominational  beliefs  or  usages  will 
arouse  them  to  controversy.  The  total  circulation  of  these  papers 
is  vast.  Some  of  them  are  edited  with  ability  which  commands 
respect,  with  a  versatility  which  perpetuates  interest,  and  with  a 
spirit  which  supports  the  work  of  every  priest,  parson  or  minister, 
and  of  every  interested  layman  in  the  circle  of  their  readers.  While 
they  have  to  compete  with  the  daily  press  and  with  small  sheets 
whose  limited  subscription  price  is  perhaps  an  exaggerated  equiva- 
lent for  their  value,  they  are  well  supported,  and  in  some  cases  all 
their  profits  are  devoted  to  the  direct  promotion  of  religion  and 
philanthropy. 

By  their  means  the  philanthropic  enterprises  of  Christian 
Churches  are  placed  before  those  who  are  able  to  contribute  to 
their  support ;  by  their  means  philanthropic  institutions  have  been 
established;  and  especially  do  they  aid  in  the  initiation  and  pro- 
motion of  great  educational  enterprises.  Also  they  stimulate 
special  religious  awakenings.  One  of  their  most  useful  functions 
is  the  maintaining  of  denominational  traditions  in  families. 

They  furnish  a  forum  for  discussion,  and  unless  in  sympathy 
with  them  they  counter-work  the  machinations  of  ambitious 
hierarchs  and  false  teachers.  But  to  be  effective,  the  tone  of  a 
Church  paper  must  be  unequivocal. 

If  it  does  not  so  speak  that  the  people  can  tell  what  evangelical 


220  CHURCH    FEDERATION' 

denomination  it  belongs  to,  it  is  hardly  worthy  the  name  of  a 
denominational  paper.  It  must  be  a  Christian  paper,  and  must  be 
denominational.  It  must  stand  for  the  essential  principles  of  the 
body  and  of  the  evangelical  system.  It  will  not  attack  another 
Christian  paper  on  its  denominational  peculiarities — unless  that 
paper  makes  war  upon  its  peculiarities.  Then,  like  St.  Paul,  he 
will  say,  "I  withstood  him  to  his  face  because  he  was  to  be 
blamed."  My  brethren,  if  Paul  and  Peter  had  that  privilege,  why 
should  a  humble  worm  like  myself  spurn  it  ?  No,  no,  the  denomina- 
tional press  stands  on  the  ramparts.  When  necessary  it  answers 
the  secular  press ;  it  defends  the  missionary  cause ;  it  speaks  for  the 
men  who  are  told  that  they  ought  not  to  be  in  a  mission  land.  It 
will  contend  for  the  truth  in  the  best  English  it  can  command, 
and  in  the  Christian  spirit  of  righteous  indignation,  wherever  the 
truth  is  denied  or  distorted. 

The  third  class  consists  of  undenominational  religious  papers, 
and  this  class  also  must  be  sub-divided  into  those  really  devoted 
to  the  promotion  of  Christianity  primarily,  and  incidentally  gen- 
eral purveyors  of  news  and  literary  criticism ;  those  which  have 
only  a  flavor  of  religion  and  in  other  respects  resemble  literary 
magazines ;  and  those  which  have  rather  less  Christian  aroma  and 
savor  than  ordinary  magazines.  Some  of  the  last  named  have 
undergone  a  change.  Formerly  they  were  intended  for  religious 
papers,  but  in  the  change  of  publishers  or  because  of  the  loss  of 
patronage,  they  have  reached  a  point  where  they  should  not  be 
classified  with  religious  papers;  but  tradition  holds  them  to  be 
stni  there,  and  they  are  not  unwilling  to  receive  the  patronage  of 
such  as  do  not  discern  or  rightly  estimate  the  transition  through 
which  they  have  passed. 

The  power  of  the  religious  press  as  such  is  affirmed  to  be  less 
than  it  was  forty  years  ago.  A  judicious  estimate  of  the  situation 
is  this:  The  religious  press  once  had  a  monopoly  of  religious 
news;  once  many  took  nothing  but  their  religious  paper;  once  the 
clergy,  except  when  a  great  moral  issue  arose,  did  not  participate 
actively  in  party  politics;  once  denominational  differences  were 
accentuated  to  an  undue  degree.  In  all  these  respects  there  have 
been  changes  tending  to  diminish  the  relative  influence  of  Church 
papers.  One  may  find  some  daily  papers  and  several  weekly 
papers  far  superior  to  the  magazines  of  forty  years  ago. 

But  where  the  religious  press  is  in  the  hands  of  men  of  moral 
And  intellectual  power,  and  is  edited,  not  in  the  spirit  of  the  dim 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION   BY   THE   PRESS  221 

past  but  in  that  of  the  present  day,  where  that  spirit  is  not 
inimical  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  Christianity,  it  may  and 
does  retain  an  amount  of  influence  sufficient  to  make  those  who 
control  it  almost  stagger  under  the  responsibility  they  have  to  bear. 
I  can  tell  of  a  Church  paper  not  of  my  own  order  that  has  estab- 
lished five  colleges  by  the  contributions  it  induced  its  constituency 
to  give.  I  can  tell  you  of  another  Church  paper  that  by  a  single 
editorial  set  the  whole  denomination  to  building  hospitals  until 
they  have  created  thirty-two  hospitals  in  twenty  years,  and  ac- 
cumulated seven  million  dollars  of  property  in  hospitals,  endow- 
ments, and  sites.  When  Thurlow  Weed  was  a  political  leader  in 
this  State,  he  said :  "We  can  beat  at  the  polls  any  religious  paper, 
but  if  they  all  unite  against  us,  no  party  can  stand  before  them." 
Look  at  Ohio ;  look  at  Philadelphia ;  look  at  all  these  places  where 
the  Churches  and  the  Church  press  have  been  united  in  favor  of 
reform. 

Another  question  of  considerable  importance  is  this:  Has  the 
Christian  Church  made  the  proper  use  of  the  press  ?  In  all  strictly 
utilitarian  aspects  it  may  be  said  to  have  done  so;  but  so  much 
credit  cannot  be  given  to  it  of  late  years  with  respect  to  the  produc- 
tion of  special  spiritual  results.  Much  is  to  be  desired,  and  no  re- 
ligious communion  can  claim  marked  preeminence  in  efficiency. 
Many  works  written  for  the  promotion  of  practical  religion  consist 
of  forceless  platitudes.  The  use  of  cant  words  persists,  though  it 
is  not  carried  to  the  same  degree  of  excess  as  in  former  years. 
Many  religious  publications  are  flimsy.  Platitudes  without  num- 
ber are  repeated,  and  characters  almost  weak-minded  are  held  up 
for  admiration.  It  is  a  debatable  question  whether  the  heroes  are 
religious  from  principle  or  from  inability  to  resist  the  religious  ten- 
dencies in  which  they  were  immersed ;  others  teach  religiosity  rather 
than  religion. 

Sermons  issued  in  books,  pamphlets  or  tracts  for  the  promotion 
of  religion  are  often  forceless.  This  is  liable  to  be  the  case  where 
sermons  have  been  delivered  extemporaneously  without  adequate 
preparation  and  published  practically  verbatim.  That  which  is 
spoken  under  the  influence  of  powerful  feeling  may  produce  great 
effects,  yet  when  reported  and  published  verbatim,  it  will  hardly 
please  those  who  were  in  sympathy  at  the  time,  and  often  when 
printed  in  a  book  will  be  futile  as  a  means  of  making  religious  im- 
pressions. 

The  ornamenting  of  tracts  and  the  using  of  pictures  now  so 


222  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

common  is  of  doubtful  utility  except  as  a  kindergarten  movement. 
The  tract  has  lost  its  dignity ;  first,  because  of  so  many  being  written 
which  are  only  a  paraphrase  of  the  printed  sermons  of  years  ago, 
and  second,  because  they  lack  a  direct,  fresh,  vivid  style.  Tracts 
and  pamphlets  on  spiritual  religion  must  be  written  as  though  the 
writer's  life,  liberty  and  living  depended  upon  persuading  or  con- 
vincing the  reader. 

Some  denominations  show  more  skill  than  others  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  works  intended  to  promote  religion.  The  tracts,  pamphlets 
and  books  put  forth  by  the  Paulist  Fathers,  an  organization  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  are  models  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
object.  The  Swedenborgians,  the  Unitarians  and  the  Baptists  have 
shown  great  skill  in  the  use  of  the  tract,  the  pamphlet  and  the  small 
book.  Generally  speaking,  schismatics  and  heretics — using  these 
words  not  opprobriously,  but  as  indicating  the  opponents  of  that 
which  is  supposed  to  be  established — have  shown  greater  strength 
and  skill  in  the  onset  than  the  defenders  of  the  faith.  Not  until 
dangers  surround  them  on  every  hand  do  the  orthodox  awake  to  the 
necessity  of  vigorous  defence,  and  in  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church  this  not  unnatural  fact  has  often  been  reproduced.  The 
heterodox  when  they  have  set  up  a  new,  or  a  new  variety  of  an  old, 
religion  grow  indolent,  write  without  a  force  comparable  with  the 
vigor  of  their  former  revolutionary  manifestoes,  and  are  themselves 
in  turn  counterworked  by  the  fusilades  and  undermined  by  the 
subtleties  of  a  new  generation  begotten  of  themselves. 

Like  the  pulpit,  the  Church  press  must  keep  in  view  that  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  and  the  salvation  of  men  are  the  principal  aims. 
The  great  question  is  not  to  put  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools,  but 
to  keep  the  Bible  in  the  pulpits  and  in  the  Church  press. 


A    UNITED    CHURCH   AND    THE    SOCIAL 
ORDER 


REV.  JAMES   T).  MOFFAT,  D.D.,  LL.D.  REV.  WM.  J.  TUCKER,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


REV.  WALLACE   RABCLIFFE,  B.D.,  LL.D.  RT.  REV.  W.  C.  BOAXE,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL 


The  Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffk,   D.D.,  LL.D. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren:  I  am  always  ready  to  stand,  on 
the  briefest  notice,  at  any  time  and  under  any  circumstances,  for 
Mr.  Justice  Harlan,  who  as  a  jurist  I  honor,  as  a  Presbyterian 
elder  I  admire,  and  who  as  a  friend  I  love.  No  one  regrets  more 
than  I  do  the  absence  from  this  platform  of  his  commanding 
presence  and  inspiring  words.  I  can  assure  you  that  that  ab- 
sence is  not  through  any  languid  interest  in  your  work  or  in 
the  great  themes  you  consider,  but  entirely  by  an  unusual  and 
sudden  stress  of  judicial  business;  and  if  he  were  here  I  know 
he  would  speak  not  as  a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  but  as 
a  Christian  man,  as  a  Presbyterian  elder,  and  as  a  devoted  and 
patriotic  citizen  of  the  Kepublic. 

This  question  will  not  down.  Amid  all  the  stir  and  noise 
and  confusion  and  agony  of  the  ages  it  asserts  itself,  and  ex- 
pediencies and  philosophies  have  multiplied  in  manifold  ex- 
pressions, as  unavailing  as  they  are  manifold.  The  question  is 
distinctly  a  Christian  question,  and  its  solution  is  in  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  Its  beginning  was  yonder  in  the  Garden  of  Eden. 
There  seemed  an  approximate  solution  in  the  friendly  separation 
of  Laban  and  Jacob,  but,  save  here  and  there  in  exceptional  cases, 
it  has  not  been  settled  and  will  not  be  settled  until  there  is  the 
full  acknowledgment  and  power  to  the  most  intimate  details 
throughout  the  world  of  the  authority  of  the  Scriptural  announce- 
ment, "Except  a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  see  the  Kingdom 
of  God."  And  the  Kingdom  of  God  has  its  full  and  continuous 
assertion  and  illustration  not  in  meat  and  drink,  but  in  right- 
eousness and  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is,  then,  a 
subject  that  belongs  to  the  Church  of  Chirist.  Not  to  this  or 
that  denomination  of  the  Church,  but  the  Federated  Church  of 
Christ,  which  can  answer  this  question : 

I.  By  the  full  and  distinct  assertion  of  the  Scriptural  defini- 
tion of  wealth  and  labor. 

The  first  teacher  of  social  philosophy  was  Moses,  and  he  has 
not  yet  been  improved  upon.  The  Bible  is  the  supreme  text- 
book, and  gives  us  its  abiding  philosophy.  Men  can  be  one- 
sided.   Theories  have  been  partial  and  dim  and  vague.  Men  have 


226  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

misunderstood  Christ,  and  they  have,  even  in  the  pnlpit,  with 
some  demagoguery  presented  to  us  the  partial  and  discolored 
picture  of  Christ,  and,  in  the  narrow  and  hasty  reading  of  His 
Word,  misunderstood  His  character  and  misapplied  His  pre- 
cepts. The  rich  man's  camel  has  been  sadly  overworked,  until 
I  sometimes  think  he  does  not  even  care  to  look  at  the  eye  of 
that  needle.  Poets  and  sentimentalists  have  perverted  as  they 
have  insisted  upon  poverty  as  a  virtue.  Labor  is  not  a  sin;  cap- 
ital is  not  a  crime.  Dives  did  not  go  to  torment  because  he 
was  rich,  and  Lazarus  did  not  get  to  Abraham's  bosom  because 
he  was  a  beggar.  The  attitude  of  the  Bible  is  one  of  intimate 
and  constant  and  richest  sympathy  with  the  poor,  the  distressed, 
the  suffering,  on  every  hand  and  through  all  ages,  but  that  sym- 
pathy is  not  limited  to  one  experience,  nor  to  any  class  of  men. 
Christ's  attitude  was  not  to  the  rich  as  rich,  nor  to  the  poor 
as  poor.  Nor  has  He  brought  to  us  the  idea  that  money  is  the 
highest  ideal  of  the  Christian  life.  It  is  not  quite  possible  for 
us  to  listen  complacently  to  His  hard  and  apparently  harsh  state- 
ments when  He  says,  "How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,"  when  He  proclaims  the  blessed- 
ness of  the  poor,  and  when  He  reiterates  persistent  condemnation 
upon  wealth  and  its  associates.  But  we  must  be  careful  not  to 
take  a  temporary  condemnation  or  admonition  for  a  general  com- 
mand. I  read  the  words  of  Christ.  I  follow  his  footsteps.  I  see 
Him  seeking  to  lift  men  up  to  a  larger  vision  where  they  can 
understand  that  a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of 
the  things  he  possesses,  where  He  seeks  to  lift  humanity  to  a 
higher  vision  and  nobler  conception  of  its  possible  estate  and 
larger  development.  As  I  study  His  continuous  teachings,  and 
see  the  revelations  of  His  varied  fellowships  and  influences,  I 
recognize  that  He  was  no  social  radical,  no  curbstone  agitator, 
who  sought  to  array  the  rich  against  the  poor  or  the  weak  against 
the  strong,  but,  living  in  a  higher  and  larger  atmosphere  of 
thought  and  holy  ambition,  having  an  eye  that  saw  the  cleavage  in 
our  humanity  above  all  material  conditions,  He  sought  to  lift  men 
to  that  condition  of  experience  and  of  hope  where  rich  and  poor, 
with  higher  motive  and  richer  life,  should  live  together  in  the 
amity  of  acknowledged  and  cherished  brotherhood. 

II.  The  Federated  Church  thus  unfolding  the  true  picture  and 
echoing  the  universal  words  of  Jesus  Clirist,  will  emphasize  the 
individual.    We  think  to-day  en  masse.    We  do  everything  in  the 


LABOR    AND    CAPITAL  227 

multitude.  We  pray  by  regiments.  We  sing  in  battalions.  We 
trade  by  corporations.  There  is  a  tendency  on  every  side  to  mass 
humanity  in  the  greed  of  wealth,  in  the  insatiate  desire  for  power, 
in  the  glare  and  glitter  of  material  desire  and  material  suc- 
cess, to  use  the  man  only  as  coal  to  be  shoveled  into  the  furnace  of 
the  machinery,  and  pressed  by  these  conditions  the  tendency  in 
the  poor  man's  mind  to  forget  the  possible  diamond  in  the  coal, 
and  think  of  himself  only  as  a  necessary  part  of  the  capitalist's 
machinery.  The  man  may  be  a  director,  but  he  is  still  a  man. 
Yonder  motorman  is  not  an  atom  in  the  machinery  of  the  corpora- 
tion, but  a  man  unique,  distinct,  personal  in  the  possibilities  and 
responsibilities  of  his  nature.  The  greatest  thing  in  the  world  is 
a  man.  We  do  not  need  Matthew  Arnold  to  talk  to  us  about  the 
dignity  of  man.  We  read  it  long  ago  in  the  Word  of  God.  God 
breathed  into  this  body  and  the  man  became  a  living  soul,  a  soul 
born  in  the  image  of  God,  and  for  that  man  in  his  sin,  his  sorrow, 
his  defeats  and  despairs,  Christ  dies.  And  yonder  Eden  and 
Calvary  are  the  declaration  of  the  priceless  inheritance  in  every 
manhood.  Not  this  or  that  man  of  privilege,  of  distinction,  of 
opportunity,  but  this  man  in  his  humanity,  that  man  in  his  limita- 
tions, this  street-sweeper,  yonder  poor  seamstress,  this  little  child 
of  poverty  and  sin  dignified  in  the  thought  of  God,  and  the  blood 
of  the  Son  of  God. 

Every  life  is,  then,  a  divine  thought,  and  God  has  dignified  the 
humblest  and  most  limited,  and  the  Church  of  Christ  as  it  would 
solve  the  question  of  labor  and  capital  must  bring  to  this  man  and 
that  man  greater  self-consciousness — bring  him  into  the  intelli- 
gent esteem  of  himself.  Every  man  is  unique.  The  Eooseveltism 
of  Eoosevelt  is  what  makes  him  Roosevelt.  He  cannot 
borrow  it,  or  give  it  away.  This  humblest  man,  this  lowly  person, 
has  his  distinct,  unique  personality  which  summons  and  commands 
our  respect  and  defence  in  his  rights  and  privileges  for  to-day  and 
for  immortality.  You  remember  how,  in  that  wonderful  poem  of 
Browning's,  the  dark,  forbidding  Saul  sat  still,  dumb  and  dark, 
whilst  the  singer  brought  to  him  all  the  voices  of  nature,  all 
sweet  and  graceful  sounds,  the  music  of  the  birds,  the  purling 
of  the  waters,  the  reaper's  shout,  the  vintner's  song,  the  glad 
chant  of  marriage,  the  great  march  of  battle,  the  chorus  of  tem- 
ples intoned,  all  beauty  and  strength  of  manhood's  prime  vigor. 
But  the  figure  gigantic  and  blackest  of  all  is  dumb  and  gloomy 
still,  unmoved  save  by  the  thrill  of  the  song  and  prophecy. 


228  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

'Tis  my  flesh  that  I  seek 
In  the  Godhead!     I  seek  and  I  find  it.     O  Saul,  it  shall  be 
A  Face  like  my  face  that  receives  thee.    A  Man  like  to  me 
Thou  shalt  love  and  be  loved  by  forever.     A  Hand  like  this  hand 
Shall  throw  open  the  gates  of  new  life  to  thee.    See,  the  Christ  stands. 

The  Christ  we  bring  to  men — men  in  their  lovelessness,  in. 
their  depression,  in  their  defeat — far  above  all  material  ministry, 
far  above  all  the  converse  of  the  world,  the  Christ-man  we  bring 
shall  awaken  this  dark,  moody,  brooding,  melancholy,  threatening 
Saul  and  bring  him  to  the  throne  that  shall  be  for  us  and  for 
mankind  a  throne  of  peace  and  power. 

III.  The  Federated  Church  will  bring  to  man  as  it  thus  em- 
phasizes the  individual  the  power  and  persuasiveness  of  the 
Gospel  spirit.  It  is  illustrated  in  the  darkness  and  agony  of  Cal- 
vary, that  so  loved  that  the  Christ  of  God  was  ready  for  the 
sacrifice.  It  is  ever  the  spirit  of  Christ  that  breathes  not  alone 
or  chiefly  in  dogmas  or  liturgies,  or  ecclesiasticisms,  or  forms  or 
organizations.  It  is  spirit.  It  is  life.  Yonder  Christ  stood  once 
in  the  glory  of  His  transfiguration,  but  again  and  again  He  walked 
the  highways  and  the  by-ways,  in  the  dust  and  toil,  in  fatigue, 
hungering  and  weeping  for  the  lowly,  the  distressed,  the  dpng. 

It  is  stUl  the  spirit  of  the  Christ  that  shall  thus  go  forth,  its 
face  not  only,  but  its  heart  glowing  with  rays  of  the  transfigura- 
tion, whose  rays  shall  be  beams  of  healing  and  benediction  to 
humanity.  But  that  spirit  of  the  Gospel  will  not  only  emphasize 
love;  it  compels  righteousness.  Law  and  love  are  the  illustra- 
tions of  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Calvary  stands,  but  Sinai  has  not 
been  destroyed!  Men  talk  about  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and 
claim  to  limit  their  lives  to  its  few  precepts.  Take  that  sincerely 
and  you  vrill  find  in  its  true  interpretation  the  demand  for 
righteousness.  But  I  remember  that  Christ  taught  other  things 
than  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  In  that  Bible  still  stands  the 
writing  of  the  Decalogue.  I  know  that  the  commonest  thing,  the 
true  thing,  the  kindly  thing,  the  righteous  thing  shall  be  a 
revival  that  will  awaken  in  the  hearts  of  men  the  quick  response 
and  carry  to  the  homes  and  into  the  activities  of  society  the  bene- 
diction of  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

These  are  the  things  the  Federated  Church  can  emphasize,  and 
as  it  thus  emphasizes,  there  are  certain  things  it  will  certainly 
do — ^not,  it  may  be,  by  formal  activity,  by  systematic  organiza- 
tion, or  ecclesiastical  legislation.     But  this  emphasis  will  have 


LABOR   AND    CAPITAL  229 

echoes  through  all  his  activities  and  experiences.  The  spirit  of 
Christ  will  require  a  fair  day's  wage  for  a  fair  day's  work  every- 
where, and  for  every  one,  whether  man  or  woman.  The 
spirit  of  Christ  will  give  an  equal  chance  as  it  recognizes  the 
sacredness  and  dignity  of  the  individu^,  so  that  there  shall  be 
limited  hours  of  labor,  clean  homes,  opportunities  for  recreation, 
open  libraries,  time  and  material  for  intellectual  and  social 
pleasure  and  development.  It  will  protect  the  public  school. 
Divine  Providence  has  given  us  this  wondrous  and  unique  insti- 
tution by  which  we  are  moulding  the  various  immigrations, 
carrying  in  themselves  opposing  influences  and  strange  and  threat- 
ening possibilities  to  the  institution  both  of  our  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  It  is  the  peculiar  institution  by  which  we  weld  these 
varied  elements  into  one  intelligent,  loyal  citizenship.  The  Church 
of  Christ  will  stand  by  the  common  school.  The  Federated  Church 
will  reenthrone  the  Bible  in  the  public  school.  It  will  see  there 
the  precepts  and  the  examples  for  home,  for  business,  for  pleasure, 
for  society,  the  teachings  of  righteousness,  the  instructions  of  thrift, 
that  vitalize  and  bless  and  adorn  society.  The  Federated  Church 
will  stand  by  the  Lord's  Day.  We  want  no  Continental  Sunday. 
We  ask  for  no  American  Sunday.  We  will  not  insist  upon  the 
Puritan  Sabbath.  We  will  preach,  declare,  contend  for  the  Chris- 
tian Sabbath — the  Christian  Sabbath  that  is  the  safeguard  of  a 
vital  Christianity  as  a  vital  Christianity  is  the  safeguard  of  a 
nation.  Isaiah  tells  us  that  the  day  is  coming — he  puts  it  in  his 
own  way,  and  I  put  it  in  my  way  when  I  say  that  the  day  is  com- 
ing when  we  shall  see  the  capitalization  of  labor  and  the  laboriza- 
tion  of  capital.  But,  anyhow,  Isaiah  says  that  the  day  is  com- 
ing when  every  man  shall  help  his  neighbor  and  every  man 
shall  say  to  his  brother,  "Be  of  good  courage,"  so  that  the  car- 
penter encourages  the  goldsmith  and  he  that  smoothed  with  the 
hammer,  him  that  labors  with  the  anvil;  and  he  fastened  it  with 
nails  that  it  could  not  be  moved.  These  nails  are  not  in  human 
expedients,  not  in  the  correct  social  philosophies,  but  in  the  Word 
and  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  time  will  come  when  society  in  its 
free  institutions  and  in  its  large  and  rich  opportunities  will  be 
fixed  so  that  it  cannot  be  moved,  when  th«  carpenter  will  en- 
courage the  goldsmith  and  when  every  man  shall  say  to  his 
brother,  "Be  of  good  courage."  I  believe  it  comes,  even  though  war 
and  storm  and  crimson  streaks  be  to-day.  It  comes.  I  believe 
it  not  because  I  believe  in  the  gospel  of  culture,  in  the  philosophies 


230  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

of  the  schools,  in  the  beneficent  progress  of  the  years,  in  the 
wealth  of  righteousness,  in  the  mere  assertions  of  brotherhood, 
much  less  in  the  essential  integrity  and  development  of  human 
virtue,  but  because  in  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  the  communion  of  saints. 


CITIZENSHIP 


President  William  J.  Tucker,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


In  the  few  moments  at  my  command,  putting  aside  all  refer- 
ence to  the  dangers  of  deficient  citizenship,  I  will  try  to  set 
forth  what  seems  to  me  to  be  the  present  opportunity  for  influ- 
ential and  commanding  citizenship.  I  strike  at  once  the  note  of 
greatness,  not  of  mere  obligation  nor  even  of  necessity,  as  most 
in  harmony  with  my  subject.  The  first  question  about  any  urgent 
matter  of  a  public  sort  is  not,  how  urgent  is  it,  but  how  great 
is  it?  What  rank  are  we  ready  to  assign  to  it  among  the  objects 
which  demand  our  attention?  That  is  the  question  which  I  put 
in  regard  to  citizenship.  What  rank  do  we  propose  to  give  it 
among  the  compelling  objects  which  address  themselves  to  the 
ambition,  the  patient  endeavor,  or  the  consecrations  of  men.  If 
we  are  not  prepared  to  put  it  in  the  first  rank,  to  give  it  a  place 
beside  the  great  constants  in  the  service  of  State  and  Church  or 
the  new  and  fascinating  openings  of  science  and  industry, 
it  is  quite  useless  for  us  to  expect  any  results  from  our  discussion 
of  the  need  of  good  citizenship.  If  we  are  to  have  good  citizen- 
ship, as  things  are  to-day,  we  must  have  great  citizens.  When  we 
have  these  in  sufficient  number  and  rightly  distributed  we 
shall  have  practically  settled  the  question  of  citizenship.  I  ad- 
dress myself  to  one,  to  my  mind  the  one,  solution  of  our  present 
civic  troubles,  namely,  the  presence  of  men  qualified  for  leader- 
ship whose  great  qualification  is  not  a  sense  of  duty  but  the 
joy  of  the  task.  Nothing  short  of  this  will  take  the  men  we  want 
away  from  the  fascinations  and  the  rewards  of  private  gain. 

What  then  are  the  qualities  in  men  which  can  make  them 
able  and  willing  to  achieve  greatness  by  way  of  citizenship?  I 
name  first,  without  the  slightest  hesitancy,  imagination :  the  power 


CITIZENSHIP  231 

to  see  through  wickedness  into  righteousness.  No  great  cause 
ever  moved  far  until  it  had  taken  possession  of  the  imagination 
of  men.  Whatever  start  the  conscience  may  have  given  it,  it 
waited  for  the  kindled  mind  to  give  it  movement.  Foreign  mis- 
sions in  this  country  sprang  out  of  as  fine  a  burst  of  idealism 
as  the  republic  itself.  "When  young  Mills  said  to  his  comrades  at 
Williams,  "We  ought  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  dark  and  heathen 
lands,  and  we  can  do  it  if  we  will,"  the  word  of  duty  waited  upon 
the  word  of  inspiration.  Brethren,  we  have  had  enough  to  say 
about  the  duty  of  citizenship.  Progress  does  not  lie  in  any  mere 
discussion  of  duty  or  even  in  the  deeper  sense  of  it.  It  is  time 
for  us  to  change  our  camping  ground — to  move  out  from  "we 
ought'"'  to  reform  our  cities  into  'Ve  can  do  it  if  we  will."  What 
we  need  in  further  thought  about  citizenship  is  to  put  more  of 
what  Stevenson  calls  "^the  purple"  into  our  thinking;  or  if  we 
are  ready  for  action  to  give  to  that  what  the  London  "Spectator" 
calls  the  "Nelson  touch,"  the  fashion  which  the  old  admiral  had 
of  doing  a  great  thing  in  a  great  way  because  he  saw  it  in  its 
greatness. 

Next  to  imagination  as  requisite  to  any  kind  of  efficiency  in 
citizenship,  I  put  intelligence,  that  fine  discernment  of  an  issue 
which  gives  us  simplicity  in  place  of  confusion.  Men  are  various- 
ly intelligent  for  public  uses,  every  man  after  his  own  kind.  We 
ought  to  be  careful  about  prescribing  the  method.  What  mat- 
ters it  whether  discernment  comes  by  way  of  the  school  or  by 
way  of  the  street?  "Wisdom  is  justified  of  all  her  children."  Of 
course  the  security  of  corrupt  men  lies  in  the  confusion  of  good 
men,  or  in  their  divided  counsels.  No  matter  how  great  or  wide- 
spread the  corruption,  good  men  are  absolutely  helpless  until 
some  one  arises  who  can  simplify  the  issue  and  make  it  clear 
and  compelling.  The  tendency  to  overweigh  a  moral  issue,  to 
put  the  work  of  to-morrow  into  the  work  of  to-day,  has  brought 
many  an  attempted  reform  to  naught.  It  requires  the  clearest 
intelligence  to  place  an  issue  before  the  public  mind,  and  to  hold 
it  there,  naked  and  unadorned,  till  the  public  mind  becomes 
ashamed  of  its  continued  presence. 

When  we  add  to  imagination  and  intelligence  the  evident  qual- 
ity of  courage  we  simply  remind  ourselves  that  citizenship  is  in 
the  militant  stage.  The  task  of  citizenship  in  most  of  our  cities 
is  many  years  in  arrears.  Some  valuable  properties  have  been 
irretrievably  lost.     Other  and  greater  properties  are  in  danger. 


232  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  looting  of  the  public  ^vealth  is  not  the  work  of  one  man  or 
one  set  of  men.  It  has  become  a  recognized  industry.  The  men 
who  practice  it  are  as  highly  trained  as  men  in  the  skilled  em- 
ployments or  in  the  professions.  They  are  never,  of  course,  men 
of  moral  courage,  and  seldom  of  physical  courage,  but  they  have 
the  courage  of  their  position,  intrenched  in  power  and  equipped 
with  means.  Every  attempt  to  bring  a  set  of  political  thieves  to 
justice  is  fraught  with  personal  danger,  but  the  danger  increases 
mightily  with  the  settled  purpose  to  break  up  the  business.  The 
man  who  stands  for  that  result  must  have  the  long  courage  of 
the  campaign.  No  one  can  tell  how  far  we  are  from  the  reign 
of  honesty  in  our  cities.  The  time  depends,  I  suppose,  upon  the 
steadiness,  the  endurance,  the  unflinching  courage  of  those  who 
fight  our  battles.  I  know  of  no  better  motto  for  any  man  who 
dares  a  great  deliverance  for  his  city  than  the  word  of  the  most 
persistent  of  the  anti-slavery  reformers:  "I  will  not  compromise, 
I  will  not  equivocate,  I  will  not  retreat  a  single  inch,  and  I  will 
be  heard." 

But  why  should  we  discuss  the  question  of  citizenship  in  the 
Federation  of  Churches?  What  have  we  to  add,  or  what  ought 
we  to  add  to  the  qualities  which  make  up  the  great  citizen?  We 
ought  to  add  the  supreme  qualification,  namely,  consecration. 
Consecration  supports  and  steadies  the  vision  of  duty,  it  directs 
the  trained  intelligence,  it  nerves  the  will  and  cheers  the  heart 
in  defeat,  and  above  all  it  teaches  the  soul  the  joy  of  self-sacrifice. 
There  is  but  one  equivalent  for  the  immense  rewards  of  private 
gain,  and  that  is  the  exceeding  great  reward  of  self-sacrifice.  If 
a  man  does  not  allow  himself  to  feel  the  joy  of  self-sacrifice  in 
a  righteous  cause,  he  is  not  out  of  reach  of  the  rewards  of  private 
gain.  When  he  has  once  tasted  that  joy,  rewards  seem  cheap. 
What  money  would  bring  back  your  missionaries  from  "dark  and 
heathen  lands,"  where  their  comrades  have  fallen  and  are  falling 
at  their  side  ?  What  money  has  been  able  to  hold  back  from  the 
high  places  of  public  duty  men  who  have  been  summoned  there 
out  of  the  very  midst  of  us  at  the  cost  of  personal  enjoyment  or 
professional  honor?  In  our  demands  for  citizenship,  we  cannot 
stop  short  of  the  man  capable  of  devotion. 

In  declaring  then  the  attitude  of  the  Churches  toward  citizen- 
ship, I  insist  first  upon  the  recognition  of  all  who  are  giving  us 
the  finest  illustration  of  it,  regardless  of  name,  or  creed,  or  pro- 
fession.    The  men  about  us  who  are  rising  into  the  greatness 


CITIZENSHIP  233 

of  citizenship  are  the  men  for  us  to  study,  not  to  criticise.  Let 
us  beware  how  we  say  the  word  of  the  disciples,  "Lord,  we  saw 
one  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name  and  we  forbade  him,  because 
he  foUoweth  not  with  us,"  lest  we  receive  the  answer  of  the 
Master,  "Forbid  him  not:  there  is  no  man  which  shall  do  a 
miracle  in  My  name  that  can  lightly  speak  evil  of  me.  He  that 
is  not  against  us  is  on  our  part."  The  test  in  all  this  business 
concerning  our  cities  is  the  power  "to  cast  out  devils." 

In  the  second  place  I  insist  upon  the  duty  of  our  Churches 
to  create  "so  far  as  in  them  lies"  the  conditions  which  produce 
the  citizen.  It  is  in  the  expression  of  this  duty  that  I  have  been 
urging  that  advance  in  the  rank  of  citizenship  which  shall  put 
it  among  the  foremost  privileges  of  Christian  service.  I  would 
have  every  Church  put  it  upon  the  list  of  great  causes  for  which 
men  are  to  pray,  and  to  which  they  are  to  give  as  occasion  may 
arise,  and  to  which  they  are  to  consecrate  themselves.  While  the 
present  emergency  lasts  I  would  give  it  standing  with  missions 
at  home  or  abroad. 

And  in  the  third  place  I  insist  upon  the  acceptance  of  the 
high  duty  and  privilege  which  cooperation  in  citizenship  offers 
as  a  means  of  making  real  to  ourselves  and  to  all  men,  in  our 
own  generation,  the  unity  of  the  Church.  Unity  is  not  an  end 
to  be  striven  after  as  men  may  strive  after  the  truth.  Truth  is 
always  the  greater  end,  even  though  the  search  after  it  may  for 
the  time  separate  a  man  from  his  brother.  Unity  comes  in  upon 
us  through  the  sense  of  a  common  need,  a  common  duty,  and  a 
common  privilege.  Suddenly  in  the  providence  of  God,  the 
Church  is  confronted  by  the  same  imperative  and  exciting  duty, 
and  lo,  in  the  doing  of  it,  we  are  one.  In  the  immediate  provi- 
dence of  God  we  have  been  brought  through  a  well  nigh  universal 
demand  for  civic  righteousness  into  one  of  those  great  meeting 
places  of  righteous  men  upon  whom  God  looks  down,  "without 
respect  of  persons."  Let  not  the  Church  miss  its  present  oppor- 
tunity to  realize  its  oneness.  Let  the  search  for  truth  go  on,  lead 
where  it  will,  but  let  righteousness,  plain,  everyday,  brotherly 
righteousness,  have  its  day  amongst  us.  What  better  word  could 
the  great  apostle  have  for  the  men  of  to-day  than  that  which 
he  had  for  men  of  his  own  time  as  he  led  the  way  out  of  the 
confusions  of  their  thoughts  and  desires  for  the  things  of  the 
spirit  into  the  works  of  charity,  "Covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts, 
and  yet  show  I  unto  you  a  more  excellent  way." 


FAMILY    LIFE 


The  Rt.  Rev.  William  C.  Doane,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


In  the  translation  of  the  Psalms  which  Coverdale  made  from 
Jerome's  second  version,  in  what  is  known  as  the  Great  Bible, 
published  under  Cranmer's  sanction,  the  sixth  verse  of  the  sixty- 
eighth  Psalm  has  for  its  opening  phrase  these  words :  "He  maketh 
men  to  be  of  one  mind  in  an  house."  In  the  King  James  version, 
unaltered  so  far  by  any  of  the  later  revisions,  the  phrase  reads: 
"He  setteth  the  solitary  in  families."  Putting  the  two  together 
one  may  gather  that  family  life  is  the  original  plan  of  the  Al- 
mighty for  men,  and  that  its  purpose  is  one-mindedness.  May  I 
go  on  one  step  farther  in  an  exegetical  way  and  recall  the  splendid 
outburst  of  St.  Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  when  he  bows 
his  "knees  to  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of 
whom  every  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named"?  and  then  I 
think  I  may  claim  that  from  the  cradle  of  man's  creation  to  the 
final  consummation  of  all  things,  the  norm,  the  germ,  the  ideal  of 
all  human  living  is  the  family.  It  antedates,  it  anticipates,  it  sets 
the  model  of,  it  is  the  preparation  for  all  organic  association  of 
human  beings,  in  Church  or  State,  civil,  ecclesiastical  and  social. 
And  the  family,  in  the  root  meaning  of  the  two  words  which  we 
translate  into  the  one  word  in  English,  is  built  upon  the  two 
ideas  of  kinship  and  of  fatherhood. 

Out  from  its  first  beginning,  in  the  man,  the  "helpmeet  for 
him,"  and  "the  man  gotten  from  the  Lord"— with  that  exquisite 
instance  and  illustration  set  in  the  midst  of  human  story  as  the 
ideal  of  the  race,  Joseph  and  Mary  and  Mary's  child  in  the  Naza- 
rene  home — out  from  this  genesis,  all  groupings  and  gatherings  of 
men  the  world  over,  racial,  tribal,  national,  have  sprung,  with  the 
two  thoughts  running  through  them  and  ruling  them,  kinship  and 
fatherhood;  for,  after  all,  it  is  true  of  nations  and  races,  by  de- 
scent, by  common  heritage,  by  one-bloodedness,  that  a  great  peo- 
ple, American,  German,  English — whatever  you  will — is  a  great 
family.  And  in  the  larger  sense — every  -narpia  from  the  one  Trar?7P 
— the  human  race  is  all  akin,  the  great  human  family  of  God,  chil- 
dren made  of  one  blood  and  by  one  blood  redeemed,  the  children 
of  the  All-Father.  Whatever  builds  up  the  family  ideal  makes  for 

234 


FAMILY    LIFE  235 

the  prosperity  of  a  race  and  a  nation.  Whatever  breaks  down  the 
family  ideal  makes  for  the  degradation  and  destruction  of  a  nation 
or  a  race.  Somehow  it  seems  to  me  that  we  English-speaking  peo- 
ple have  in  a  sense,  by  the  very  language  that  we  speak,  an  initial, 
fundamental  inheritance  of  this  idea,  for  only  we  of  all  nations, 
ancient  or  modern,  have  that  descriptive  word,  and  its  distinguish- 
ing thought,  of  home.  Tr}'  to  put  it  into  one  of  the  later  or  more 
modem  tongues  and  you  have  what  may  mean  a  house  or  a 
dwelling  place,  or  a  separate  place  for  yourself,  domus  or  oikia, 
or  casa  or  haus  or  chez  soi.  And  our  language  has  a  monopoly  of 
the  word  "home,''  with  all  it  means.  Shame  on  us  if  we  falsify  or 
forfeit  our  great  heritage. 

Now,  the  foundation  of  family  life  is  marriage — marriage  in 
its  fuU  and  noble  thought,  not  a  mere  civil  contract,  entered  into 
recklessly  and  little  esteemed,  but  "the  holy  estate,"  into  which, 
under  the  sanction  of  Almighty  God,  subject  to  the  law  of  the 
land,  and  with  the  blessing  of  the  Church,  two  people  came  to  be 
made  man  and  wife,  "so  long  as  they  both  shall  live,"  "till  death 
them  doth  part."  Speaking  in  an  assemblage  of  Christian  men, 
representing  the  Christian  Church,  I  should  belie  my  convictions 
and  forfeit  their  confidence  if  I  did  not,  as  speaking  not  only 
before  you,  but  for  you,  claim  for  holy  matrimony  this  character 
and  this  sanction.  Once,  and  once  for  all,  linking  the  old  with  the 
new,  the  first  institution  of  paradise,  with  the  life  and  law  of 
Christianity,  the  divine  Master  said,  "What,  therefore,  God  hath 
joined  together  let  no  man  put  asunder,"  "Wherefore  they  are  no 
more  twain,  but  one  flesh."  So  it  was  revealed  by  Him  who  made 
them  at  the  beginning  male  and  female.  "Wherefore"  and  "there- 
fore," Jesus  Christ  clinches  the  fact,  "What,  therefore,  God  hath 
joined  together  let  no  man  put  asunder." 

We  are  confronted  and  confounded  in  our  day  and  in  our  land 
with  a  condition  of  things  about  this  question  which  discredits 
our  country,  dishonors  our  Christianity,  disgraces  our  manhood 
and  our  womanhood,  in  the  unparalleled  frequency  and  the  unlim- 
ited facility  of  divorce.  Against  this  hideous  and  horrible  infec- 
tion the  Christian  Church,  under  whatever  name,  must  stand  to- 
gether as  one.  Here  is  the  place  not  for  federation  only,  or  com- 
bination, or  cooperation,  but  of  absolute,  impregnable  unity;  and 
the  place  to  begin  is  not  in  the  legislature  or  in  the  divorce  courts, 
but  in  the  teaching  of  the  pulpit,  the  insistence  of  the  ministry 
and  the  influence  of  Christian  manhood  and  womanhood  for  the 


236  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

solemnity  and  sacredness  of  marriage.  The  hastiness  and 
thoughtlessness  of  men  and  women  who  are  really  boys  and  girls, 
in  betrothals,  mere  impulse  with  a  frothy  sentiment  or  a  falsely 
called  love;  the  commercial  management  of  match-making  for 
place,  for  title,  for  money;  the  careless  and  criminal  neglect  of 
clergymen  to  find  out  the  condition  and  circumstances  of  people 
coming  to  them  for  marriage,  are  at  the  bottom  of  the  misery  of 
much  married  life  to-day. 

And  as  one  studies  the  surroundings  of  what  is  called  a  wed- 
ding in  our  time  one  cannot  but  deplore  the  irreverent  confusion 
and  display  which  drowns  the  religiousness  and  disturbs  the  dig- 
nity of  the  service  itself,  and  the  vulgar  violation  of  modesty  and 
privacy  which  pursues  in  public,  with  the  horseplay  of  noisy 
demonstrations,  the  two  people  who  have  just  entered  into  this 
holy  estate. 

I  speak,  as  an  old  man,  plain  words  in  a  common  way,  because 
I  believe  all  this  to  be  indicative  of  a  lowered  tone  as  to  marriage 
which  needs  correction  in  its  symptoms  and  cure  of  its  disease. 
"Not  to  be  entered  into  unadvisedly  or  lightly,"  that  is  the  lan- 
guage of  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  "but  reverently,  discreetly, 
advisedly,  soberly  and  in  the  fear  of  God."  I  am  pleading  for  rev- 
erence and  sobriety. 

And  meanwhile,  before  this  reckless  and  thoughtless  temper 
and  tendency,  stands,  pampering  to  it  and  promoting  it,  the  temp- 
tation of  the  open  door  of  the  legalized  successive  polygamy  of 
American  divorce.  Thank  God,  there  are  other  movements  in 
which  as  Christian  ministers  we  are  taking  common  counsel  to- 
gether now.  Thank  God  there  are  other  methods  which  wise  and 
earnest  members  of  the  legal  profession  are  working  out.  Thank 
God  there  is  a  searching  of  hearts  and  minds  which  will  work  like 
a  frost  in  a  malarial  country,  or  a  breath  from  heaven  in  a  desert 
of  death,  tending  toward  the  forming  of  a  public  opinion  which 
one  day  will  purge  so-called  society  of  this  leprous  taint.  But 
quite  apart  from  any  critical  discussions  or  textual  theological  dis- 
tinctions or  differences  of  opinion  about  methods  in  the  law,  I 
dare  here  to  say  that  the  Christian  Church  must  stand,  if  family 
life  is  to  be  saved  in  America,  against  this  uprooting  and  imder- 
mijiing  of  the  home.  Not  questioning  about  possible  exceptions, 
but  agreeing  upon  the  positive  acceptance  of  the  sweeping  state- 
ment of  principle,  on  which  our  Lord  rests  the  law  of  marriage, 
in  the  face  of  the  drift  of  looseness  and  the  deluge  of  abomination 


FAMILY    LIFE  237 

v/liich  the  existing  condition  of  things  in  America  proves,  the 
Church  is  bound  to  take  drastic  measures  to  hold  herself  clear 
from  any  religious  sanctions  which  even  bear  the  semblance  of  a 
recognition  of  remarriage  after  divorce. 

And  now  the  home  is  founded,  a  man  and  his  wife,  one  man 
with  one  woman,  and  family  life  begins,  I  believe  that  the  in- 
stinct of  courtesy  and  chivalry  in  the  best  type  of  the  American 
man  makes  him  the  best  type  of  husband.  I  am  not  speaking  of 
the  tap  root  of  it  all,  love  and  faithfulness,  but  of  the  little  fibres 
that  go  down  and  find  sources  of  life  in  soil,  and  graces  of  re- 
freshment in  the  sweet  springs,  which  are  needful  to  keep  the 
home,  from  its  foundation  to  its  rooftree,  clean  and  strong — 
thoughtf olness,  courtesy,  consideration,  tenderness,  helpfulness ; 
no  locked  closets  in  either  heart;  mutual  concession,  ffl.Tni1ia.rity 
that  breeds  confidence  and  not  contempt;  the  daily  life  conse- 
crated with  the  memories  of  the  first  love  and  with  the  hope  of 
children,  which  are  "a  gift  that  cometh  from  the  Lord."  And 
when  the  child  comes,  then  the  family  is  complete,  with  all  its 
untold  joy,  its  new-found  graces,  its  grave  responsibilities.  True 
as  it  is  that  the  mother  is  the  most  perpetual  presence  and  the 
most  vital  power  of  the  home,  the  family  is  called  patria,  and 
fathers  must  feel  and  learn  their  part  in  the  training  of  the  child. 
Bread-winners  they  may  have  to  be,  but  bringing  home  the  weeldy 
wage  or  paying  the  housekeeping  bills  is  not  the  entire  discharge 
of  the  man's  duty. 

When  the  vision  came  to  Manoah's  wife,  promising  the  birth 
of  a  child,  it  was  the  first  impulse  of  the  husband  to  ask  of  the 
angel,  "What  shall  we  do  with  the  child?  How  shall  we  order 
him?"  And  that  means  that  the  duty  is  distributed  and  divided 
between  the  man  and  the  woman.  I  confess  to  a  good  deal  of 
impatience  about  certain  so-called  movements  in  our  day  tending 
to  the  diversion  of  men  and  women  from  their  home  callings  and 
responsibilities.  On  the  one  hand  is  the  attempt  of  the  noisy 
minority  to  thrust  women  out  from  their  natural  sphere  of  influ- 
ence into  the  so-called  rights  (which  are  not  anybody's  rights,  but 
only  privileges)  of  voting,  and  so  into  the  unwholesome  excite- 
ments of  public  and  political  life.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  the 
plea  to  provide  some  place  for  men  of  refuge  out  of  their 
homes,  after  the  day's  work,  where  they  can  be  soberly  and  de- 
cently amused,  the  women  meanwhile  being  left  to  the  surround- 
ings of  the  home,  which  are  accounted  unattractive  and  imsuitable 


238  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

to  the  men.  Better,  it  seems  to  me,  by  far  instill  the  home  idea 
and  the  family  ideal  and  let  each  share  the  domestic  duties  and 
make  the  domestic  comforts  of  the  house. 

Let  this  matter  go  higher  up  in  the  social  scale.  The  house 
in  which  a  man  eats  some  of  his  meals  and  sleeps  at  night,  the 
house  from  which  he  goes  to  his  office  in  the  morning  and  to  his 
club  in  the  evening,  can  hardly  be  counted  his  home.  And  while 
club  life  in  moderation  and  saloons  of  a  decent  sort  are  tolerable, 
and  perhaps  essential  for  certain  ends,  I  believe  they  are  to  be 
classed  with  flats  and  family  hotels  among  the  things  which  are 
gradually  effacing,  in  very  large  degree,  the  old  and  the  better 
thing,  the  family  and  the  home.  We  have  retained  in  our  Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  as  a  faint  echo  of  a  far-away  time,  as  a  venerable 
relic  of  a  bygone  age,  this  statement: 

All  fathers,  mothers,  masters  and  mistresses  shall  cause  their 
children,  servants  and  apprentices  who  have  not  learned  their  catechism 
to  come  to  the  church  at  the  time  appointed,  and  obediently  to  hear  and 
to  be  ordered  by  the  minister,  until  such  time  as  they  have  learned  all 
that  is  here  appointed  for  them  to  learn. 

Even  if,  in  the  divisions  of  our  modem  Christianity  and  in 
the  gulf  of  difference  between  the  modern  and  the  old-time  rela- 
tion of  servants  and  masters,  this  cannot  be  made  effective  in  the 
America  of  to-day,  it  stands  as  a  wise  word  of  warning  that  the 
power  of  our  holy  religion  is  of  the  first  essence  of  the  family  life. 
Taking  its  last  phase  of  the  relation  between  master  and  servant, 
so  beautiful  and  helpful,  and  so  rare  to  find,  I  honestly  believe 
that  the  complaint  of  poor  servants  is  to  be  traced  back  to  the 
fact  of  poorer  masters  and  mistresses.  When  servants  are  treated 
like  machines,  to  be  used  until  they  are  worn  out,  when  the  com- 
mon himianities  of  life  are  forgotten  or  omitted,  and  when  no  care 
or  concern  is  taken  about  their  religious  life  or  their  religious 
privileges,  when  Sundays  are  made  the  special  days  for  feasts  and 
parties,  the  only  wonder  is  that  any  faithful  service  is  left  among 
us  at  all. 

Is  there  not  need  here  for  a  word  of  warning  about  the  current 
coin  of  intercourse  in  a  household,  that  ought  to  be  the  "speech 
with  grace,  seasoned  with  salt"  (seasoned  with  something  that 
keeps  it  pure,  that  is)  which  the  apostle  commended  to  the  Colos- 
sians?  We  have  taken  three  or  four  Greek  words  in  our  New 
Testament  and  translated  them  all  "conversation."    They  mean 


FAMILY    LIFE  239 

manner  of  life,  sometimes  citizenship,  sometimes  speech.  I  am 
not  sure  that  we  are  far  wrong,  because  our  conversation  in  the 
usual  use  of  the  word  indicates  our  citizenship,  if  it  be  heavenly  or 
earthly,  and  reveals  our  manner  of  life.  One  gets  a  bit  weary  of 
the  priggishness  of  the  Rollo  Books  or  of  the  stiffness  of  Sir 
Charles  Grandi&on.  But  the  recklessness  of  speech  about  other 
people,  the  prurience  of  talking,  the  petty  personality  of  most  of 
it,  its  flippancy  and  frivolity,  in  the  first  place,  leave  us  at  the 
mercy  of  indiscreet  and  gossiping  servants,  and  in  the  next  place, 
fill  the  ears  and  minds  of  children  with  poor  and  often  poisonous 
stuff. 

I  plead  for  the  consecration  of  the  child's  life  in  the  child's 
home,  for  the  training  in  something  besides  mental  cramming  or 
bodily  clothing,  or  the  mere  outside  manners  or  mannerisms  of 
the  dancing  class  and  the  drawing  room.  The  old  Greek  thought 
that  had  one  word  for  manners  and  morals  is  the  true  one,  be- 
cause manners  are  morals  in  expression,  and  not  a  skin-deep 
veneer.  I  plead  for  the  reproduction  of  such  mothers  as  Eunice 
was,  because  of  whose  unfeigned  faith  "the  boy  Timothy  knew 
from  a  child  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  are  able  to  make  men  wise 
unto  salvation  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  I  plead 
for  the  restoration  of  family  prayer,  for  the  habit  of  grace  before 
meat,  for  the  atmosphere  of  personal  religion,  and  of  parental 
reverence  to  sanctify  the  home. 

It  is  easy  to  say,  This  is  a  Utopian  ideal,  impracticable  and 
unattainable  in  our  time;  life  is  too  strenuous  and  too  full;  the 
demands  of  business  are  too  pressing;  the  claims  of  society  are 
too  exhausting;  to  which  the  only  answer  is  that  to  aim  high  is 
to  gain  more  than  to  settle  down  to  things  easy  of  attainment; 
that  it  is  better  to  make  less  money  and  have  a  more  natural  and 
rational  life ;  that  it  is  better  to  limit  and  restrain  entertainments 
and  amusements  and  diversions,  and  make  the  time  for  the  duties 
and  delights  of  home.  As  things  go  to-day,  in  the  sort  of  Bedouin 
i\.rab  life  of  pitched  tents  and  perpetual  wanderings,  one  might 
almost,  without  irreverence,  paraphrase  the  Master's  description 
of  His  own  outcast  manhood,  and  say,  The  birds  and  the  beasts 
shame  us  in  this  matter  of  family  life,  since  "the  foxes  have  holes 
and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,"  and  only  the  sons  of  men 
are  without  a  home.  And  what  the  condition  shall  he  of  the  sons 
of  these  homeless  sons  of  men  who  can  foresee  ? 

I  am  quite  aware  that  I  am  not  uttering  what  might  be  called 


240  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

up-to-date  opinions  or  speaking  along  the  lines  of  modem  Ameri- 
can thought.  So  that  what  I  have  said  may  be  accounted  merely 
as  an  old  man's  praising  of  past  time.  And  yet  I  have  found  more 
than  once  that  Utopia,  not  a  no-place,  but  a  real  place,  and  a  most 
pleasant  place,  where  to-day,  even  in  the  most  diflficult  adjustment 
of  the  relation  between  mistress  and  servant,  the  ideal  is  realized. 
One  of  the  most  beautiful  homes  in  America,  where  wealth  and 
exquisite  taste  and  lavish  hospitality  combine,  and  in  which  rare 
intellectual  gifts  add  to  the  charm  of  the  mistress,  is  in  my  mind 
as  I  write.  The  confidence  established  is  such  as  makes  her  the 
house-mother,  with  untold  influence,  caring  for  every  person  in 
the  large  household,  knowing  and  helping  and  moulding  their 
characters,  ministering  to  their  health,  their  happiness,  their  self- 
respect,  their  religious  life,  and  winning  from  the  servants  a 
willing  service  and  a  devoted  faithfulness  which  no  wages  could 
buy. 

When  the  prophet  of  old  rebuked  the  Jewish  people  for  their 
abominations  and  pollutions,  he  ended  his  utterance  with  the  words, 
"Ah,  Lord  God,  they  say  of  me,  Doth  he  not  speak  parables  ?"  But, 
after  all,  the  value  of  a  parable  is  the  suggestion  of  a  truth.  And 
so  I  leave  it,  as  I  have  written  it,  redolent  with  recollections  of  an 
atmosphere  which  I  have  known  and  lived  in  through  three  genera- 
tions, because  I  believe  the  time  is  coming  when,  from  the  very 
violent  unrest  and  unreality  of  modem  life,  the  reaction  will  set 
in,  and  there  will  be  a  recurrence,  as  science  tells  us  there  often  is, 
to  the  old  type.  The  revolution  from  the  family  life,  which  has 
brought  disaster  and  dishonor,  will  come  back  to  the  evolution  of 
the  family  life.  "The  hearts  of  the  fathers  will  be  turned  to  the 
children,  and  the  hearts  of  the  children  to  the  fathers;  and  God 
will  not  smite  the  earth  with  a  curse,"  but  visit  it  with  a  blessing. 

May  I,  before  I  close,  make  a  brief  excursion  into  what  I  know 
is  delicate  and  debatable  ground,  with  perhaps  only  a  nominal  rela- 
tion to  my  subject,  and  suggest  a  possible  application  of  St.  Paul's 
words  already  quoted — not  the  whole  family — but  "every  family  in 
Heaven  and  on  earth."  It  surely  implies  the  existence  of  some 
distinctive  lines  of  separation.  I  would  not  for  a  moment  seem  to 
be  content  with  the  breaking  up  of  Christendom  into  denomina- 
tional divisions,  nor  would  I  be  misunderstood  as  counting  unim- 
portant the  points  in  doctrine,  or  in  polity,  which  divide  us  to-day. 
ISTo  man  under  the  rosiest  dream  of  unity  or  the  most  longing  desire 
for  it,  can  sacrifice  jot  or  tittle  of  what  he  believes  to  be  a  prin- 


REV.   HENRY  VAX  DYKE,   D.D..   LL.D.  REV.    BISHOP    EDWARD    G.    ANDREWS, 

D.D.,    LL.D. 


REV.  BISHOP  J.  S.  MILLS,  D.D.,  LL.D.  REV.    SAMUEL   J.    NICCOLLS,    D.D.,    LL.D. 


FAMILY    LIFE  241 

ciple;  part  of  the  revealed  truth  of  Holy  Scripture,  or  of  the  historic 
witness  of  the  Church. 

But  taking  facts  and  facing  conditions  as  they  are,  realizing 
the  great  preponderance  of  common  truth  which  is  held  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  and  by  the  great  Protestant  Communions, 
throughout  the  world,  what  we  need  to  do  while  we  stand  fast  and 
firm  each  one  by  his  convictions  of  the  truth,  is  to  trace  the  family 
likeness,  and  to  maintain  family  relations  with  each  other.  I  have 
seen  quoted  lately  (I  remember  once  its  being  quoted  about  me)  a 
legend,  which  may  or  may  not  be  true,  that  St.  John,  the  Apostle, 
once  fled  from  a  public  bath,  because  he  found  in  it  a  man  accounted 
as  an  arch-heretic  in  his  day.  If  it  is  true,  it  showed  a  side  of  the 
Apostle's  character  which  belonged  to  his  title  of  Boanerges,  or  a 
son  of  Thunder,  rather  than  the  saintlier  and  more  Christ-like  side, 
so  marked  in  the  conduct  of  his  later  life,  when  the  one  incessant 
message  on  his  lips  was  "Little  children,  love  one  another." 

I  cannot  but  remember  in  this  connection  that  once,  when  he 
proposed  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven  to  consume  the  Samaritans 
who  would  not  receive  the  Lord,  the  Divine  Master — ^his  and  ours — 
rebuked  him,  "Ye  know  not  what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of;  the 
Son  of  Man  is  not  come  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save  them," 
and  still  more  pointedly  I  recall  Christ's  rebuke  to  the  same  dis- 
ciple at  the  same  time,  "Master,"  he  said,  "we  saw  one  casting  out 
devils  in  Thy  name,  and  we  forbade  him,  because  he  followeth  not 
with  us,"  and  Jesus  said,  "Forbid  him  not,  for  he  that  is  not  against 
us  is  for  us."  Weigh  these  words  as  you  will  against  that  other 
saying,  "He  that  is  not  with  Me  is  against  Me,"  and  yet  somewhere, 
in  the  poising  of  the  scale  which  God  holds  in  His  just  and  even 
hand,  there  is  some  point  at  which  they  balance,  so  that  neither  one 
outweighs  the  other  into  insignificance  or  unimportance.  Through 
all  the  cloudiness  and  confusion  of  antagonisms  and  estrangements, 
the  eye  of  faith  must  be  far-sighted  and  clear,  that  sees  the  unhappy 
divisions  melted  and  merged  into  organic  unity.  Indeed,  the  most 
believing  mind  needs  perhaps  clearer  assurance  than  we  have  as  yet 
of  the  exact  meaning  of  the  Saviour's  prayer.  While  in  His 
prophecy  we  know  He  said,  "One  Shepherd  and  one  flock,"  but  not 
one  fold. 

Meanwhile,  there  must  be  somewhere  and  somehow  found 
methods  and  ways  of  conversation,  of  common  speech,  of  union 
not  against  one  another,  but  against  paganism  and  unbelief  and 
unrighteousness.     Even  when  we  have  found  the  form  of  sound 


242  CHURCH    FEDERATIOS 

words  into  wliicli  we  are  delivered  as  molten  metal  to  a  mould,  we 
find  by  the  inevitable  imperfections  of  human  language  and  the 
inevitable  assertiveness  of  the  human  mind,  wide  variations  in 
interpreting  the  meaning  of  the  words.  Standing  in  manly  quiet- 
ness by  every  point  of  principle  given  to  us,  be  it  parity  or  prelacy 
or  papacy,  be  it  confession  or  catechism,  or  creed,  let  us  proclaim 
and  publish  the  great  verities  of  our  common  Christianity,  and  set 
ourselves,  each  one  with  his  peculiar  possession  of  power,  to  win  the 
world  for  Christ. 

And  so  I  welcome  the  beginning  of  a  better  hope,  and  the  dawn- 
ing of  a  brighter  day.  This  is  a  National  Federation  of  Churches 
and  Christian  Workers.  Its  name  seems  to  me  to  exclude  no  re- 
ligionists but  the  Hebrews.  Some  day  it  may  build  a  platform  and 
take  a  name  wide  enough  to  include  these  ancient  children  of  God. 
to  whom  in  this  hour  of  inhuman  outrages  perpetrated  under  the 
name  and  guise  of  Christianity  every  human  heart  must  go  out  in 
intense  and  ashamed  sympathy.  Meanwhile,  because  we  are  not 
here  to  talk  about  matters  of  doctrine  or  polity,  because  we  are  here 
protected  by  our  self-respect  and  by  our  mutual  respect  from  dis- 
cussing or  discrediting  any  form  of  belief  or  order,  we  must  hope 
and  believe  and  pray  that  He,  "of  whom  every  family  in  Heaven 
and  earth  is  named,"  will  bless  this  movement  of  the  Federation 
of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  to  draw  men  nearer  to  each 
other  and  lift  men  nearer  to  Him. 


THE    IDEAL    SOCIETY 


The  Rev.  Henry  van  Dyke,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


The  Ideal  Society  is  a  large,  diflficult  and  remote  subject.  It 
is  the  goal  of  all  the  Churches.  The  religion  of  Jesus  proposes  to 
us  not  a  selfish  salvation  from  death,  but  a  brotherly  redemption 
to  life ;  and  a  life  that  is  not  solitary,  but  social,  seeking  the  glory 
of  God  in  a  great  commonwealth  of  men  where  all  shall  be  useful, 
joyful,  just,  kind,  devoted  to  God  and  to  one  another.  The  man 
who  wants  to  be  saved  alone  is  on  the  way  to  be  damned.  A  Feder- 
ation of  Churches  without  a  social  aim  would  be  a  convocation  of 
traitors  to  humanitv  and  infidels  to  Christ.     No  religion  can  do 


THE    IDEAL    SOCIETY  243 

anything  for  me  which  does  not  make  me  want  to  do  something  for 
you.  The  star  of  the  Christian  hope  is  an  ideal  society  for  humanity 
in  the  world  which  now  is,  as  well  as  in  that  which  is  to  come. 

But  when  the  ideal  society  is  reached  there  will  be  no  more 
churches  and  no  more  ministers;  for  then  "all  shall  know  the 
Lord,  from  the  least  unto  the  greatest."  There  will  be  no  more 
courts  and  no  more  lawyers ;  for  then  every  man  will  love  his  neigh- 
bor as  himself.  There  will  be  no  more  police  and  no  more  armies ; 
for  then  war  and  violence  will  cease  and  all  men's  good  shall  be 
each  man's  goal. 

And  universal  Peace, 
Lie  like  a  shaft  of  light  across  the  land. 
And  like  a  lane  of  beams  across  the  sea. 

That  is  the  ideal  society.  It  is  a  long  way  off,  and  there 
is  no  social  elevator  to  raise  us,  when  we  push  the  button  of  elo- 
quent speech,  to  its  lofty  level.  There  is  no  power  in  human 
nature  to  spring  swiftly  into  this  large  liberty.  The  amiable  en- 
thusiasts who  proclaim  its  freedom  before  mankind  is  fit  for  it  are 
not  its  friends,  but  its  unconscious  enemies.  To  destroy  the  world 
that  is  gives  no  guarantee  of  the  ability  to  create  the  world  that 
ought  to  be.  To  blow  out  your  farthing  candle  does  not  illuminate 
the  arc  light.  Only  through  the  removal  of  human  ignorance,  the 
betterment  of  human  character  and  the  gradual  improvement  of 
human  nature  can  we  climb  the  steep  path  that  leads  to  the  per- 
fection of  social  life.  The  Golden  Age  cannot  be  made  out  of 
brazen  hearts.  The  way  to  the  ideal  society  lies  through  the  society 
of  idealists,  and  the  guide  of  Christian  progress  is  the  word  of 
Jesus :     "The  Kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  you." 

I  give  up  all  hope  of  talking  to  you  about  the  ideal  society,  and 
I  content  myself  vdth  talking  about  the  idealists'  society.  What 
are  the  aims  and  marks  of  that  society,  which,  though  still  imper- 
fect, is  moving  upward  by  loyalty  to  the  best  ideals?  That  is  the 
question  which  the  Churches  ought  to  attend  to.  It  is  all  very  well 
to  pray  for  the  millennium,  and  to  talk  about  the  millennimn  on 
idle  days,  but  on  Avorking  days  the  thing  that  concerns  us  is  what 
to  aim  at  now,  what  to  do  to-day,  what  to  hope  for  to-morrow,  in 
order  to  help  the  coming  of  the  better  time  for  all  men. 

I.  The  idealist  society  is  a  society  of  persons  and  not  of 
classes.  It  was  John  the  Baptist  who  spoke  to  classes,  and  very 
good  advice  he  gave  them.     But  Jesus  Christ  came  closer,  and 


244  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

spoke  to  individuals:  "Believe,  love,  forgive,  do  unto  others  as 
you  would  that  others  should  do  unto  you" — not  unto  your  class, 
remember,  but  unto  you.  The  foundations  of  His  kingdom  were 
laid  in  the  personal  will  and  character.  But  we  are  tempted  to-day 
to  depart  from  His  method.  We  talk  of  the  masses  of  mankind. 
Did  you  ever  see  mankind?  Have  mankind  any  feelings,  any 
principles,  any  real  existence,  save  in  the  men  and  women  who 
compose  it?  We  make  our  plans  for  groups  of  humanity,  saying 
that  they  ought  to  do  this  or  that,  forgetting  that  the  group  will 
never  do  anything  save  through  the  good  will  and  the  right  action 
of  the  persons  who  make  it. 

The  first  step  to  social  betterment  is  not  through  the  'Tieart  of 
humanity,"  but  through  the  hearts  of  men,  and  also  of  women ;  in- 
dividuals, persons.  Every  soul  that  lives  is  a  distinct  factor  in  the 
problem  of  advance.  You  can  do  nothing  for  all  until  you  do 
something  for  one.  Charity  is  broader  and  better  organized  to-day 
than  it  ever  was  before;  but  if  the  personal  impulse,  the  personal 
aim,  the  personal  touch,  die  out  of  it  the  world  will  suffer  more 
than  it  gains.  Education  is  making  more  elaborate  schemes  and 
programmes — wonderfully  elaborate !  But  the  only  thing  that 
counts  is  the  living  contact  of  the  live  teacher  with  the  live  scholar. 
The  Church  is  magnificently  equipped.  Its  organization  is  stu- 
pendous— so  much  so  that  it  is  keeping  many  men  out  of  the  min- 
istry, they  do  not  dare  to  face  it.  But  the  great  thing  needful  is 
that  one  man  shall  say  to  another  man :  ''Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  let  me  help  you." 

II.  The  idealist  society,  as  Jesus  reveals  it,  relies  more  upon 
moral  principle  than  upon  legal  enactment  for  the  improvement 
of  the  world.  The  dream  of  making  men  good  by  statute  is  one 
that  has  often  glittered  before  the  eyes  of  enthusiasts.  It  would 
be  an  easy  way  if  it  were  possible.  But  there  is  no  law  that  m?n 
has  made  that  man  cannot  evade.  And  the  chief  reason  why  society 
is  not  better  is  because  so  many  people  are  bad.  Make  what  laws  you 
please  against  theft,  men  who  are  dishonest  at  heart  wiU  go  on 
stealing,  high  and  low,  dividing  up  profits  which  they  have  not 
earned,  pocketing  moneys  which  are  given  to  them  in  trust,  and 
covering  "graft"  with  "craft."  Make  what  laws  you  please  against 
the  liquor  traffic;  men  who  are  without  self-control  or  self-respect 
will  still  go  on  making  beasts  of  themselves  with  strong  drink — the 
reckless  sensualists  treating  it  as  a  jest,  the  sullen  fatalist  protesting 


THE    IDEAL    SOCIETY  245 

that  he  is  driven  to  it  by  heredity  and  environment.  The  real  reason 
for  both  is  because  they  want  it.  So  with  a  score  of  other  evils. 
Legislation  cannot  reach  the  roots  of  them :  cut  them  down  here  and 
they  spring  up  yonder.  There  is  no  legislative  magic  by  which 
materialists  can  be  combined  into  an  idealist  society,  or  lumps  of 
selfishness  fused  into  a  brotherhood  of  love. 

It  will  be  an  ill  day  for  the  Church  when  she  yields  to  the  cur- 
rent delusion  that  the  world  can  be  reformed  from  the  outside. 
She  must  lay  her  emphasis  upon  conscience,  upon  the  will  to  do 
right,  upon  faith  translated  into  virtue,  according  to  the  teaching 
and  example  of  Jesus.  She  must  condemn  the  enemies  of  society 
who  are  out  of  prison  as  well  as  those  who  are  in.  She  must 
appeal  to  the  higher  instincts  which  no  law  of  man  can  ever 
regulate  or  reward;  to  the  sense  of  justice,  to  the  sentiment  of 
kindness,  to  the  power  of  self-restraint.  She  must  say  to  men: 
"By  goodness  and  mercy,  by  sobriety  and  purity,  by  integrity  and 
fair  dealing,  by  doing  more  good  than  the  law  requires  and  less 
evil  than  the  law  permits,  thus  only  can  you  hope  to  enter  the 
Kangdom  of  Heaven." 

The  society  in  which  these  teachings  are  honored  and  prevail, 
whatever  its  form  of  government  and  mode  of  laws  may  be,  is  the 
idealist  society.     It  is  on  the  upward  path. 

III.  But  does  this  mean  that  the  idealist  society  is  indifferent 
to  the  laws  by  which  men  are  governed,  or  the  still  more  potent 
laws  and  customs  by  which  their  common  life  is  moulded?  No! 
To  these  things  it  is  profoundly  sensitive,  for  the  sake  of  the  new 
and  nobler  life  which  it  desires  for  all  men. 

No  law  which  is  unequal  is  a  good  law.  No  form  or  custom 
which  makes  it  difficult  for  men  to  be  fair  and  kind  to  each  other 
is  a  good  custom.  No  social  or  industrial  system  which  pushes  mul- 
titudes of  men  and  women  and  children  below  the  line  where  a 
decent  and  happy  human  life  is  possible  is  a  true  and  just  custom. 
The  society  in  which  the  Golden  Rule  seems  to  be  impracticable  is 
certainly  not  a  Christian  society. 

With  all  these  things  the  Church  is  bound  to  be  at  war,  because 
they  defeat  the  end  which  Jesus  proposed.  From  all  these  things 
she  must  pray  and  work  to  deliver  the  world  in  order  that  the  com- 
ing of  Jesus  may  not  be  kept  back. 

What  shall  we  say,  then,  of  the  modem  system  of  business  and 
trade  which  those  who  know  it  best  say  is  a  state  of  war  disguised 


246  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

as  competition?  Say,  a?  Charles  Kingsley  said,  that  it  is  based 
upon  "a  narrow,  selfish,  hypocritical,  anarchistic,  atheistic  view  of 
the  universe,"  and  that  it  oiiglit  to  be  reformed.  What  shall  we 
say  of  the  modern  industrial  order,  in  which  one  man  in  ten  is 
doomed  to  hopeless  poverty,  and  the  right  to  live  is  made  impossible 
for  many  by  the  impossibility  of  getting  work,  and  the  right  to  be 
happy  is  blotted  out  for  thousands  of  families,  each  herded  in  a 
single  room  and  hungering  for  daily  bread?  What  shall  we  say 
of  such  a  social  and  industrial  system  ?  Say,  that  it  is  out  of  joint, 
and  that  the  religion  of  Jesus  was  born  to  set  it  right.  Say,  that 
the  conditions  of  human  life  and  labor  must  not  be  fixed  by  the 
commercial  law  of  supply  and  demand,  but  by  the  Christian  law, 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor — whether  thou  employest  him  or  he 
employs  thee — thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  That  is 
the  law  which  must  rule  the  conditions  of  human  life  and  labor. 
Say  that  the  question  of  a  living  wage  is  a  vital  question,  spiritually 
and  morally,  as  well  as  economically,  and  that  the  Church  will 
never  be  satisfied  until  it  is  settled  so  that  if  any  man  will  work  he 
shall  also  eat,  and  his  children  shall  eat,  and  the  gate  of  hope  shall 
be  open  to  them.  What  shall  we  say  of  the  modern  social 
language  which  degrades  the  very  word  "society,"  or  "sassiety," 
as  a  few  hundred  people  of  the  idle  rich  call  it  in  their 
own  corrupt  language — which  degrades  this  word  into  a  title  for  a 
few  hundred  people  chiefly  occupied  with  their  own  amusements, 
and^  refers  to  the  mass  of  mankind  as  "the  masses"  ?  Say  that  it 
is  corrupt  language  which  betrays  a  heart  rotted  with  vanity  and 
a  mind  made  imbecile  with  falsehood.  Say  that  the  idle  and  selfish 
rich  and  their  parasites,  who  spend  life  in  the  closed  circle  of  costly 
pleasures,  are  really  "them  asses,"  and  that  society  means  the  broad 
fellowship  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  in  all  their  mutual 
relations,  cooperating  in  common  toil  and  learning  one  from 
another  in  common  intercourse.  Say,  also,  that  the  Church  repents 
of  every  idle  word  of  that  false  language  of  the  House  of  Mirth  that 
she  has  ever  taken  into  her  mouth.  Say  that  she  discards  it  and 
renounces  it,  and  that  henceforth  she  will  speak  the  language  of 
Jesus,  acknowledging  only  those  who  do  the  will  of  the  Father  in 
heaven  as  her  brothers  and  her  sisters,  and  honoring  men,  not  for 
what  they  have,  but  for  what  they  are  and  for  what  they  do. 

^ly  brethren,  who  that  has  soberly  read  the  signs  of  the  times 
can  dou])t  that  changes  are  coming  in  the  present  civil,  industrial, 
social  and  economic  order?     AVho  that  thinks  and  feels  -nnth  Christ 


THE    IDEAL    SOCIETY  247 

can  doubt  that  changes  ought  to  come?  Where  the  weight  of 
human  misery  preponderates  over  human  happiness  and  the  bonds 
of  oppression  are  bound  with  iron,  the  change  is  coming  with  blind 
rage  and  violence,  with  terror  and  bloodshed,  as  in  Kussia  to-day. 
Where  the  majority  of  men  are  prospering  in  liberty  and  only  the 
minority  are  suffering,  as  in  our  own  land,  the  changes  are  coming 
through  sjanpathy  and  the  sense  of  justice  and  wise  love,  seeking  to 
equalize  burdens  and  opportunities  for  all  men,  to  unlock  the  closed 
doors  and  to  open  the  barred  stairways  in  the  House  of  Life. 

And  if  they  come  thus  in  our  country,  what  attitude  shall  the 
Church  of  Christ  take  to  them?  What  part  shall  she  play  in  the 
era  of  social  transition?  Let  her  stand  and  work  on  the  basis  of 
sane  idealism.  Against  every  proposition  that  threatens  the  se- 
curity of  the  family  life,  against  everything  that  weakens  the  sense 
of  honest  industry  and  thrift,  and  tends,  or  pretends,  to  force  all 
men  to  the  same  level  without  regard  to  character  or  worth,  she 
must  protest  in  the  name  of  Clirist  and  humanity.  With  all  the 
laws  and  customs  that  promote  fair  play  among  men  and  protect 
the  poor  and  the  ignorant  and  the  helpless,  and  cut  the  claws  of 
clever  greed,  and  distribute  the  rewards  for  work  more  justly  ac- 
cording to  the  real  usefulness  of  the  work  done,  and  make  it  easier 
for  each  man  to  deal  with  others  as  he  would  have  others  deal  with 
him,  the  Church  must  feel  and  show  a  true  sympathy,  in  the  name 
of  Christ  and  humanity. 

I  know  that  in  her  judgments  on  these  points  the  Church  has 
made  mistakes,  and  she  will  make  mistakes.  But  the  worst  mis- 
take, the  vital  mistake,  would  be  indifference  and  silence.  The 
Church  must  remember  above  all  that  her  distinctive  mission,  her 
supreme  task,  is  for  the  inner  life  of  man.  She  must  remind  the 
world  again  and  again  that  the  real  root  of  human  soitow  is  human 
sin.     She  must  declare  that 

By  the  soul 
Only  the  nation  sliall  be  great  and  free. 

She  must  hold  up  the  character  of  Christ  as  the  divine  pattern 
of  goodness;  immutable,  supreme,  immortal — the  human  life  of 
God ! 

No  social  change  will  make  that  message  superfluous  or  rob  it 
of  its  power.  I  read  only  the  other  day  in  the  words  of  a  modem 
radical  this  amazing  impertinence: 

"Jesus  would  have  accomplished  more  if  He  had  given  Himself 
to  economics  and  science  instead  of  to  religion."     0  !  who  has  ever 


248  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

accomplished  half  so  much  ?  Amid  the  storms  and  conflicts  of  the 
past  we  see  Him  as  the  strength  and  the  stay  of  all  that  is  noble 
and  all  that  is  true.  Amid  the  perils  and  the  perplexities  of  the 
future  we  see  Him  as  the  guide  and  the  hope  of  all  that  is  good 
and  of  all  that  is  humane !  Back  to  Christ  was  the  cry  of  religious 
thought  a  few  years  since.  Forward  to  Christ!  must  be  the  cry 
of  social  hope  to-day.  Forward  to  Christ,  that  we  may  learn  the 
length  and  the  breadth  and  the  height  and  the  depth  of  His  wise 
love  for  man !  Forward  to  Christ,  that  we  may  bring  our  lives  into 
touch  with  His  life,  and  have  them  transmuted  from  the  lead  cf 
selfishness  into  the  gold  of  love.  Forward  to  Christ,  that  we  may 
see  in  Him  the  Master  as  He  was  the  Founder  of  the  ideal  society. 


A   UNITED   CHURCH   AND  HOME  AND 
FOREIGN   MISSIONS 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  Bishop  J.  S.  Mills,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


The  age  tendency  of  Christendom  is  truly  expressed  in  this 
great  representative  audience.  The  prayer  of  our  Saviour  and 
the  heart  yearnings  of  His  most  earnest  followers  are  here  re- 
ceiving fulfilment.  We  are  on  the  holy  mountain  where  the  cloud 
of  glory  is  above  our  heads  and  our  transfigured  Lord  is  in  the 
midst;  where  all  things  are  gathered  together  in  one,  both  which 
are  in  heaven  and  which  are  on  earth,  even  in  Him  who  is  the 
Head  over  all  things  to  the  Church,  which  is  His  body,  the  ful- 
ness of  Him  that  filleth  all  in  all. 

Now  lest  this  heavenly  vision  vanish  and  be  forgotten,  leav- 
ing us  in  greater  darkness,  doubt,  and  death,  we  must  clothe  it 
in  flesh  and  blood  that  it  may  go  about  among  men  doing  good. 
We  must  learn  how  to  make  vital,  regnant,  and  permanent  the 
noble  ideal  of  Christian  unity  in  the  spirit  and  plan  and  work 
of  the  Church;  even  as  our  fathers  embodied  their  glorious  ideal 
of  liberty,  equality  and  fraternity  in  this  great  nation  composed 
of  the  federated  States  and  Territories.  Then  the  Church  will 
be  not  an  ideal  only,  but  in  reality  a  glorious  republic,  whose  only 
head  is  Jesus  Christ,  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  and 
whose  citizens  are  all  brethren. 

Much  already  has  been  accomplished.  In  the  foreign  field 
the  territory  of  the  different  missionary  boards  is  now  quite  clearly 
delimited  in  most  regions  and  can  soon  be  carried  to  completion. 
But  this  work  in  our  homeland  is  far  less  perfect.  Here  the 
zealous  sectary  still  organizes  his  half  dozen  followers  in  villages 
and  towns  and  districts,  even  where  another  sect  in  the  place  in- 
creases an  evil  and  not  a  blessing,  while  other  communities  are 
suffering  and  perishing  for  want  of  the  money,  time  and  talents 
thus  needlessly  wasted.  However,  that  these  boundary  lines  of 
delimitation  become  not  impossible  barriers,  plans  for  coopera- 
tion and  mutual  helpfulness  are  now  needed.  Some  of  tlie  plans 
here  suggested  are  now  in  successful  use;  others  are  in  the  realm 
of  the  ideal,  ready  to  serve  whenever  and  wherever  men  have  faith 
and  goodness  enough  to  harness  them  in  the  service  of  God. 

251 


252  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

1.  The  Federation  of  Churches  can  bring  about  the  coopera- 
tion of  good  people  in  a  country  neighborhood,  village,  town, 
or  city  district  in  the  mission  field  or  elsewhere  to  maintain 
a  union  prayer  meeting,  a  Sunday  School  teachers'  meeting,  a 
mission  study  class,  evangelistic  services,  exchange  of  pulpits,  or 
to  support  a  deaconess  to  nurse  the  sick,  to  visit  the  churchless 
homes,  and  to  call  on  the  strangers;  and  they  can  do  many  other 
kinds  of  work  which  can  best  be  done  by  cooperating  with  each 
other.  What  an  increase  of  enthusiasm,  joy  and  eflficiency  will  be 
secured. 

All  have  noted  the  growth  of  suavity  and  cheerfulness  in  the 
average  home,  caused  by  the  presence  of  congenial  visitors.  In 
union  meetings  and  services  where  all  will  contribute  their  best 
each  will  be  devout  in  the  piety  of  all,  each  will  be  fervid  in  the 
fervor  of  all,  each  will  be  wise  in  the  wisdom  of  all,  each  will  be 
strong  in  the  strength  of  all,  each  will  be  Christian  in  the  Christ 
of  all. 

The  germinal  elements  of  such  cooperation  now  exist;  and  if 
the  leaders  in  the  Churches  believe  in  and  sanction  it,  so  that 
the  masses  may  know  that  they  are  not  going  contrary  to  the 
wishes  of  their  officers,  we  shall  soon  have  many  united  efforts 
for  the  saving  of  men  and  the  advancement  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  Then  religion  will  become  a  band  of  social  unity  and  not 
a  wall  of  division. 

2.  The  Federation  of  Churches  can  at  once  secure  coopera- 
tion in  the  work  of  education  in  mission  fields.  Is  there  any 
good  reason  why  all  the  missionary  boards  at  work  in  Porto  Eico 
should  not  unite  to  make  one  strong  Christian  college  or  training 
school  in  that  island,  rather  than  each  having  its  own  feeble 
school?  In  many  foreign  mission  fields  the  cause  of  education 
can  be  best  served  by  uniting  in  one  well  equipped  school  the 
three  or  four  feeble  ones  in  the  same  city,  and  release  part  of 
the  teachers  to  engage  in  other  mission  work.  Within  proper 
limits,  this  would  give  increased  efficiency  at  less  cost.  This 
principle  of  cooperation  may  be  applied  also  to  theological 
schools  which  are  noted  for  the  small  attendance  of  students  as 
compared  with  the  numbers  that  might  be  accommodated.  The 
united  efforts  of  missionaries  would  enable  them  to  open  schools 
where  none  now  exist  to  train  native  pastors  and  teachers  for 
work  among  their  fellows.     By  cooperation  great  Christian  uni- 


COOPERATION    IN    PRACTICAL    WORK  25a 

versities  can  be  established  in  the  hearts  of  the  chief  heathen 
nations  to  lift  up  among  them  the  Christian  ideal  of  life  and 
character,  and  to  train  the  future  leaders  of  those  nations  for 
the  good  of  their  own  lands  and  for  the  weal  of  all  lands,  and 
to  give  them  a  better  hope  of  the  life  that  is  to  come. 

3.  The  Federation  of  Churches  can  secure  cooperation  in 
medical  mission  work.  Our  Master  united  the  healing  of  the 
sick  with  the  preaching  of  the  kingdom.  The  most  successful 
missions  to-day  engage  in  the  work  of  healing  both  body  and  soul. 
Where  a  small  station  cannot  support  a  medical  missionary,  two 
or  more  stations  in  the  same  region  can  unite  to  support  one, 
giving  to  the  missionaries  proper  medical  treatment  and  to  the 
suffering,  perishing  natives  some  relief  from  the  ailments  of  both 
body  and  soul.  Thus  Luke,  the  beloved  physician,  and  Paul, 
the  loving  apostle,  will  travel  and  labor  together. 

In  larger  places  the  plan  may  include  hospitals  and  dispen- 
saries, where  the  sick  can  be  properly  treated  and  nursed  back  to 
health,  and  where  medicine  can  be  wisely  issued  to  those  who  need 
it.  It  should  also  include  sanitariums  where  the  weary  toilers 
may  rest  in  an  environment  suitable  to  restore  vigor  to  body  and 
mind.  The  foreign  missionary  often  speaks  of  the  social  soli- 
tude in  which  he  lives,  and  of  his  heart-hunger  for  fellowship  with 
congenial  spirits  such  as  he  knew  in  the  home-land.  In  these 
sanitariums  the  missionaries  of  the  region  might  meet  annually, 
or  oftener,  to  pray  together  and  compare  plans,  discuss  methods, 
and  consult  about  matters  of  mutual  interest.  This  would  fur- 
nish fellowship  for  head  and  heart,  and  would  be  medicine  of 
most  potent  influence. 

4.  The  Federation  of  Churches  can  secure  cooperation  in 
the  philanthropic  work  of  more  effectively  housing  or  caring  for 
needy  aged  men  and  women,  and  orphans  and  abandoned  chil- 
dren, and  the  helpless  of  all  classes.  These  persons  are  far  more 
numerous  in  the  foreign  field  than  at  home.  The  hearts  of  the 
prosperous  can  be  kept  humane  only  by  ministering  to  the  needy; 
and  these  dependent  members  of  our  common  race,  so  far  as 
possible,  must  be  helped  on  their  feet  and  trained  and  heartened 
to  self-support.  The  royal  service  of  Christian  cooperation  can 
work  in  this  field  transformations  mightier  than  magic.  Yes, 
the  changes  will  be  miracles  of  divine  wisdom  and  power  and 


254  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

love.  The  despairing  crj-  that  comes  from  the  submerged  millions 
in  our  own  land,  as  well  as  the  pitiful  wail  coming  from  the 
untold  millions  in  other  lands,  should  move  the  united  Church 
to  make  better  the  lot  of  men  in  this  life  as  well  as  in  the  life 
to  come,  remembering  that  Christ  said:  "Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  me." 
A  united  Church  can  prevent  the  vast  cargoes  of  alcoholic  liquors 
now  sent  out  by  our  merchants  to  curse  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
only  to  gratify  the  greed  of  gain.  It  could  crush  Satan's  head 
under  its  feet,  and  smite  the  mo^t  telling  blow  against  all  the 
evils  of  our  own  land  by  destroying  the  infamous  manufacture 
and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors. 

5.  The  Federation  of  Churches  can  secure  cooperation  in 
sometimes  sending  men  and  money  to  an  endangered  field,  and 
thus  confirm  the  good  already  attained  and  prevent  a  'disaster 
where  a  temporary  failure  of  means  comes  to  one  denomination. 
It  has  more  than  once  occurred  that  our  missionary  board  ha^ 
loaned  a  good  man  or  woman  to  another  missionarj^  board,  and 
in  this  way  prevented  a  threatened  calamity.  There  are  cases 
in  which  one  Church  has  assisted  in  supporting  the  missionaries 
of  another  body.  Union  missions  exist  both  in  the  home  and 
in  the  foreign  field.  There  is  no  just  reason  why  they  may  not 
increase.  The  good  that  is  in  each  Church  must  overflow  its  lim- 
its like  the  waters  of  the  Nile  overflowing  its  banks,  before  the 
earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  and  glory  of  God.  Jesus 
Christ  prayed  that  his  people  might  be  one,  that  the  world  might 
believe.  When  this  practical  unity  is  manifested  in  unselfish  and 
helpful  ways  a  new  era  of  faith  will  be  ushered  in. 

6.  The  Federation  of  Churches  can  secure  cooperation  in 
the  translating,  printing  and  publishing  needed  in  missionajy 
work.  The  press  has  a  recognized  value  in  proclaiming  the  Gospel 
wherever  a  written  language  is  used.  The  great  work  of  the 
American  Bible  Society-  is  the  result  of  cooperation.  The  de- 
nominations working  alone  could  not  do  the  vast  work  this 
society  has  accomplished.  It  has  published  and  is  distributing  the 
Word  of  God  in  many  languages.  There  are  other  tribes  into 
whose  tongues  the  Bible  and  other  good  books  must  be  trans- 
lated. This  cannot  be  done  by  one  board.  Cooperation  can  begin 
this  work  with  full  assurance  of  completing  it.     A  wise  economy 


COOPERATION     IN     MISSIONARY     WORK  255 

of  men  and  means  can  best  be  secured  where  different  boards 
iinite  to  do  this  kind  of  work  in  any  one  place.  One  board  can 
own  the  publishing  house  and  do  the  work  of  the  others  at  a 
fixed  price;  or  under  a  mutual  plan  all  the  boards  operating 
in  a  region  can  own  and  use  the  plant  for  the  good  of  all. 

7.  The  Federation  of  Churches  can  secure  such  cooperation 
in  missionar}'  work  as  will  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  friction  in 
machinery,  and  in  supervision  and  in  the  wear  and  tear  and  cost. 
Some  machinery  and  some  supervision  are  needed,  but  when  these 
are  reduced  to  a  minimum  the  efficiency  will  be  greatest,  other 
things  being  equal.  Why  should  there  be  two  superintendents  when 
one  can  do  the  work  better  at  less  cost?  The  heathen  know  in  their 
own  religions  the  bitterness  and  folly  of  sectarian  strife,  "of  gods 
many  and  lords  many."  The  unity  and  cooperation  of  Christians 
should  set  a  better  example  and  present  a  diviner  ideal  of  life 
and  service.  Cooperation  here  would  introduce  a  wise  economy 
of  men  and  money  which  would  commend  the  cause  of  missions 
to  the  more  generous  support  of  our  wealthy  laymen.  By  fol- 
lowing approved  modem  business  methods  in  the  business  affairs 
of  missions  we  could  secure  in  the  supervision  of  specialists  such 
advantage  as  large  experience  and  knowledge  and  wisdom  give 
to  industrial  enterprises.  Must  it  always  be  urged  that  "The 
children  of  this  world  are  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the 
children  of  light?'' 

Five  years  ago  it  was  said  on  this  platform  by  the  Rev.  Prof. 
G.  W.  Knox  that  the  present  foreign  missionary  work  "is  waste- 
ful, inefficient,  schismatic  and  needless."  Its  greatest  fault  is  it 
multiplies  agencies  needlessly.  It  is  possible  to  unite  those  that 
stand  so  near  together  on  the  foreign  field,  if  the  Cbiurch  at 
home  will  only  say  amen.  Then  beyond  that  it  is  possible  to  unit^ 
in  a  federal  union  every  branch  of  the  Christian  Church— in  a 
great  federal  unity.  Comity  is  too  weak,  far  too  weak;  we  must 
have  more  than  that.  Comity  is  too  weak  for  the  work ;  our  faith 
is  too  weak  for  the  unity  of  the  Christ;  too  weak  for  the  organic 
union  which  will  come  when  the  Christ's  prayer  is  answered. 
Meanwhile  we  can  have  a  Federal  Union  of  Protestant  Churches 
for  the  proclamation  of  God's  truth  to  all  the  world.  We  can 
have  it  when  the  Churches  at  home  recognize  three  things :  First, 
that  the  present  method  is  wasteful;  second,  that  it  is  ineffi- 


256  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

cient;  third,  that  we  are  one  in  our  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Eecog- 
nizing  these,  surely  we  can  have  as  much  wisdom  in  the  Church 
as  the  founders  of  our  country  had  when  they  bound  together 
these  differing  States  and  made  in  one  glorious  union  room  for 
men  who  differed  as  much  as  the  dwellers  in  Louisiana  from  the 
dwellers  in  Massachusetts.  And  in  such  a  union  as  that — such 
a  federal  union — the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  can  husband  all  its 
resources  and  use  them  best  for  the  winning  of  the  world  to 
Christ. 

To  facilitate  the  work  of  federal  union  and  cooperation  in 
missionary  and  other  Christian  work,  I  suggest: 

1.  That  there  be  a  campaign  of  education  carried  on  through 
our  Church  papers  and  the  general  press,  and  the  pulpit,  and  our 
Church  conferences,  to  fully  inform  all  our  people  of  the  neces- 
sity and  advantages  of  a  Federal  Union  of  all  Protestant  Churches  ;, 
and  even  beyond  this,  we  will  pray  that  the  Federation  may  lead 
the  way  to  a  reunion  of  Christendom. 

2.  That  our  missionary  boards  hold  some  joint  meetings 
where  possible,  to  learn  the  good  things  taught  and  done  by  each 
other,  and  to  pray  and  plan  together  for  the  conquest  of  this 
world  for  our  Eedeemer.  No  board  has  an  exclusive  right  to  any 
superior  plan,  or  great  leader.  It  has  been  wisely  said  that  no 
one  can  appropriate  to  himself  in  an  insular  spirit  the  great  mat- 
ters of  Christian  faith.  Christian  life.  Christian  work.  Christian 
hope,  and  Christian  destiny.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  private 
property  in  good  thoughts,  good  deeds,  and  good  men.  Paul  is 
ours,  John  is  ours,  Peter  is  ours,  and  Christ  is  ours.  All  the  great 
historic  names  associated  with  scholarship,  philanthropy  and 
religion,  no  matter  in  what  land  they  were  bom,  or  in  what 
country  they  were  baptized,  are  the  common  property  of  all 
Christian  believers.  All  truths,  all  discoveries,  all  inventions, 
all  things  good  and  worthy,  in  due  time  are  as  sure  to  diffuse 
themselves  abroad  in  every  direction  as  the  water  to  find  its  level, 
or  the  free  air  of  heaven  to  flow  into  every  open  space. 

Therefore,  let  missionary  boards  meet  together;  and  Lake 
George  and  Lake  Geneva  and  Lookout  Mountain  and  Northfield 
and  "Winona  and  Mt.  Gretna  and  Student  Volunteer  and  other 
missionary  conferences  be  held  and  even  multiplied,  that  the 


REV.    HKNRY    L.   MOREHOUSE,    D.D.       REV.  BISHOP  CHAS.   II.   FOWLER,   D.D.,   LL.D. 


RT.   REV.   J.   M.  LEVERING  REV.  BISHOP  C.  B.  GALLOWAY,   D.D.,   LL.D. 


COOPERATION    IN    MISSIONARY    WORK  257 

vision  and  ideal  and  inspiration  of  all  of  them  may  the  sooner 
hecome  the  possession  of  each  Christian. 

3.  That  there  may  be  no  longer  selfish,  sinful  rivalry  let 
each  seek  to  illustrate  in  his  life  and  spirit  the  Golden  Kule  and 
the  law  of  love,  rivals  only  in  sacrificial,  Christ-like  service,  "deal- 
ing justly,  loving  mercy,  and  walking  humbly  with  God,"  remem- 
bering ever  that  "One  is  your  Master  and  all  ye  are  brethren." 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Niccolls,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


Mr.  President,  we  have  come  to-day  to  the  consideration  of  the 
most  important  theme  before  this  Conference,  cooperation  in  mis- 
sions. The  evangelization  of  the  world  is  the  great  and  supreme 
work  assigned  by  Christ  to  His  Church,  and  if  we  are  not  ready  to 
combine  in  order  to  do  that  work  efficiently  there  is  something  de- 
plorably wanting  in  our  loyalty  to  Him. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  strongest  argument  for  Christian  unity 
is  that  furnished  by  the  necessities  and  conditions  of  the  mission 
field  at  home  and  abroad.  If  for  the  word  unity  there  were  sub- 
stituted cooperation,  the  statement  would  be  literally  true.  The 
one  great  and  imperative  obligation  and  argument  for  Christian 
unity  is  to  be  found  in  the  mind  and  purpose  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
in  the  constitution  of  the  Church,  as  His  body.  Paul  gave  it 
succinctly  when  he  wrote,  "There  is  one  body  and  one  spirit,  even 
as  ye  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling;  one  Lord,  one  faith, 
one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of  all,  Who  is  above  all  and 
through  all  and  in  you  all."  To  lose  sight  of  this  is  to  commit  our- 
selves to  human  theories  and  plans  and  vain  endeavors.  True 
unity  is  not  based  upon  measures  of  wise  policy,  or  economic  or 
administrative  reasons,  or  the  conditions  of  the  field.  But  the  de- 
mands and  conditions  of  the  mission  field  do  reveal,  more  than 
anything  else,  the  need  for  a  clearer  and  larger  manifestation  of 
Christian  unity.  They  call  for  closer  and  heartier  cooperation 
and  united  effort  upon  the  part  of  all  the  followers  of  Christ.  Nor 
is  it  a  bold  assertion  to  make  that  through  the  aggressive  mission 


258  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

work  of  the  Church  there  will  be  realized  the  fulfilment  of  our 
Lord's  prayer  in  such  a  manifestation  of  Christian  unity  as  the 
world  has  never  seen. 

The  Church  has  sought  after  the  realization  of  its  unity  in 
uniformity  of  government,  and  in  doctrinal  agreement,  and  the 
result  has  been  ecclesiastical  despotism,  loss  of  liberty,  paralysis  in 
life,  and  multiplied  divisions.     Now  another  vision  has  come  to 
her  which  she  is  beginning  to  see  more  clearly,  and  which  has  the 
promise  of  better  things.     It  is  the  realization  of  unity  in  loyalty 
to  Christ,  in  extending  His  kingdom.     It  is  the  response  she  is 
beginning  to  make  to  His  command    to  preach  His  Gospel  to  all 
the  world.     Among  the  many  blessings  which  the  reflex  influence 
of  missions,  and  especially  of  that  department  known  as  foreign 
missions,  has  already  brought  to  the  Church,  not  the  least  has  been 
the  promotion  of  Christian  unity.     From  the  necessities  of  the 
case,  denominational  distinctions  and  divisions  were  carried  into 
the  mission  field;  but  there,  in  face  of  the  allied  powers  of  vice, 
ignorance,  superstition  and  false  religions,  they  were  seen  to  be  of 
secondary  importance.     In  view  of  the  needs  of  perishing  millions, 
it  was  worse  than  trifiing  for  missionaries  to  contend  with  each 
other  concerning  the  comparative  merits  of  creeds  and  of  forms  of 
ecclesiastical  government.     The  great  vital  and  fundamental  doc- 
trines  of   Christianity,   concerning  which  all   were   agreed,   were 
placed  distinctly  in  the  forefront;  the  minor  and  non-essential  be- 
liefs were  relegated  to  the  rear,  and  often  entirely  lost  to  view. 
The  result  in  the  mission  field  has  been  closer  fellowship,  mutual 
helpfulness,  increase  in  brotherly  love  and  a  larger  realization  of 
our  Lord's  prayer  for  His  people,  that  they  all  may  be  one.     De- 
nominational zeal  has  decreased,  and  zeal  for  the  advancement  of 
Christ's  kingdom  has  become   stronger.     Instead   of  magnifying 
points  of  difference,  the  emphasis  has  been  placed  upon  points  of 
agreement.     All  this  has  had  its  effect  upon  the  Church  at  home. 
It  has  made  it  imperative  that  the  policy  of  direction  should  not  be 
determined  by   sectarian   interests,   and   that  the   claims   of   our 
common  Christianity  should  be  placed  first.     And  still  further; 
it  has  led  the  Church  at  home  to  reflect  upon  her  divisions,  and  to 
realize  more  clearly  how  her  progress  has  been  hindered  by  the  sus- 
picions, rivalries,   envyings  and  jealousies   of  sectarianism.     The 
growing  mission  work  of  the  last  one  hundred  years  has  done  more 
for  the  unification  of  evangelical  Protestantism  in  this  country 
than  any  other  single  agency.     It  has  often  come  to  pass  that  a 


COOPERATION    IN    MISSIONARY    WORK  259 

foreign  war,  which  it  was  believed  involved  a  nation's  honor  and 
was  essential  to  its  preservation  and  growth,  has  silenced  all  dis- 
sensions at  home,  united  contending  parties  and  gathered  all  with 
one  burning  desire  and  steadfast  purpose  around  the  national  ban- 
ner.    It  made  manifest  the  living  unity  of  the  national  life. 

Then  none  was  for  a  party, 
Then  all  were  for  the  State. 

Like  results  must  follow  in  the  Church  in  waging  the  great 
war  of  conquest  in  the  determination  to  subdue  the  world  to  Christ. 
Just  as  the  magnitude  of  the  cause  is  seen  and  its  imperial  claims 
are  felt  by  the  Church  at  home,  to  the  same  degree  will  its  internal 
rivalries  and  jealousies  be  forgotten,  and  its  denominationalism  will 
be  held  subordinate  to  the  advancement  of  the  common  cause. 
Mission  work  has  already  helped  to  lift  the  Church  out  of  narrow- 
ness in  doctrine  and  provincialism  in  life.  It  has  inspired  her  with 
larger  aims  and  purposes,  and  brought  her  to  a  fuller  participation 
in  the  life  of  Christ.  She  has  learned  far  more  of  Christ  in  doing 
His  work  in  the  evangelization  of  the  world  than  in  all  her  ecclesi- 
astical controversies.  All  this  is  only  saying  that  mission  work 
has  helped  her  growth  toward  unity.  In  the  field  where  so  much 
has  already  been  done  in  this  direction  we  are  justified  in  looking 
for  more.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  consideration  of  coopera- 
tion for  the  promotion  of  practical  unity  in  the  mission  field  is  a 
subject  of  first  importance  to  this  Conference. 

In  pleading  for  closer  and  more  efficient  cooperation  among 
the  Churches,  in  order  to  prosecute  the  work  of  missions  with 
greater  vigor  and  efficiency,  it  would  be  unfair  to  overlook  or 
depreciate  what  has  already  been  done.  The  rather  let  us  rejoice 
in  it,  and  gather  wisdom  and  encouragement  for  still  better  things. 
It  is  no  advantage  to  a  good  cause  to  try  to  uphold  it  by  misleading 
or  exaggerated  statements.  It  has  been  claimed  that  denomina- 
tional zeal  has  greatly  retarded  the  progress  of  mission  work,  both 
in  the  home  and  foreign  fields;  that  it  has  led  not  only  to  inter- 
ference in  the  work,  but  to  a  waste  of  men  and  means,  and  a  loss 
of  power. 

It  is  said  that  there  is  an  overcrowding  of  churches  in  some 
localities,  and  a  lack  of  them  in  others ;  that  many  churches  are  to 
be  found  in  villages  or  towns  where  one  would  suffice ;  and  that  the 
method  of  conducting  missionary  affairs  is,  because  of  denomina- 
tional differences  and  interference,  unbusinesslike  and  wasteful. 


260  '  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

There  is  a  measure  of  truth  in  this— alas !  that  there  should  be  so 
much— but  there  has  been  an  exaggeration  of  the  fact.  We  owe 
much  to  denominational  zeal  in  the  extension  of  the  work  of  mis- 
sions. We  may  even  speak  of  the  rivalries  between  different  de- 
nominations, as  Paul  wrote  of  the  conditions  in  his  day:  "Some 
indeed  preach  Christ  even  of  envy  and  strife;  and  some  also  of 
goodwill;  what  then?  notwithstanding,  every  way,  whether  in  pre- 
tense or  in  truth,  Christ  is  preached;  and  I  therein  do  rejoice, 
yea,  and  will  rejoice."  It  was  to  be  expected  that  emigrants  from 
older  settlements  should  carry  with  them  to  their  new  homes  the 
denominational  views  in  which  they  had  been  trained  from  child- 
hood. Love  for  a  particular  branch  of  the  Church,  and  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  past,  led  them  to  organize  new  churches  accordingly ; 
and  in  this  they  were  aided  by  denominational  societies.  It  was 
all  natural  and  proper.  But  the  unnecessary  multiplication  of 
churches  is  not  a  prevailing  characteristic  of  the  home  mission 
field.  Indeed  it  is  not  so  marked  a  feature  of  it  as  of  the  older 
settlements.  Let  it  be  granted  that  in  some  cases  there  were  need- 
less organizations;  yet  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  in  view  of  all 
the  conditions,  missionary  money  has  been  invested  with  rare  wis- 
dom and  fidelity,  and  that  there  has  been  less  extravagance  and 
unnecessary  expenditure  in  the  work  of  missionary  societies  than 
in  any  great  business  organization  covering  a  continent.  We  need 
not  besmirch  the  past  in  order  to  justify  some  new  movement  in 
the  present.  Times  change,  and  with  new  conditions  comes  the 
necessity  for  a  new  alignment  of  forces.  We  are  now  in  a  transi- 
tion period;  old  things  are  passing  away.  Time  and  space  have 
been  conquered ;  the  ends  of  the  earth  have  been  strangely  brought 
together;  and  the  race  is  feeling  as  never  before  its  solidarity. 
The  gates  of  opportunity  are  flung  wide  open  in  all  directions, 
and  the  cry  from  the  multitudes  is  for  the  enlargement  and  better- 
ment of  social  conditions.  Trade  and  commerce  are  responding 
to  the  demands  of  the  new  times  by  vast  combinations  and  the 
unifying  of  their  forces.  It  would  be  supreme  folly  for  the  Church 
to  be  indifferent  to  the  signs  of  the  times  and  to  cling  to  the 
methods  of  the  past  as  though  they  were  still  perfect  in  their 
adaptation.  It  is  time  for  the  followers  of  Christ  to  realize  their 
solidarity.  It  is  not  the  hour  for  a  few  and  individed  bands  to 
storm  the  ramparts,  but  for  a  mighty  united  host,  under  one  ban- 
ner lifted  up,  and  under  one  great  Leader,  and  inspired  by  one 
Snirit,  to  rush  on,  irresistible  as  a  tidal  wave. 


COOPERATION    IN    MISSIONARY    WORK  261 

But  what  does  the  present  condition  of  the  mission  field  de- 
mand of  the  whole  Church,  in  order  that  more  efficient  service  may 
be  rendered? 

The  ready  answer  given  by  not  a  few  is,  ^Tjet  us  have  organic 
union,  at  least  in  the  mission  field.  Blot  out  denominational  lines 
by  consolidating  the  various  struggling  and  rival  congregations  in 
one  community  into  one  strong  central  organization,  fully 
equipped,  lifted  above  the  mere  struggle  for  existence,  and  made 
powerful  to  serve  others."  This  is  to  be  a  sure  and  universal 
panacea  for  all  our  troubles,  the  one  step  which,  promptly  taken, 
will  bring  the  realization  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth.  It 
is  at  least  a  fair  vision,  a  pleasing  reflection  of  the  glories  of  the 
coming  time,  when  we  shall  all  see  eye  to  eye,  and  our  Lord's  prayer 
shall  be  fulfilled:  "They  shall  become  one  flock,  one  Shepherd." 
But  it  is  at  least  questionable  if  the  time  is  ripe  for  the  execution 
of  the  plan.  The  harvest  season  of  organic  unity  has  not  yet 
come.  In  England,  in  France,  and  in  Germany  there  has  been  in 
a  village  or  town  but  one  parish  church,  and  none  other  was  allowed. 
It  was  supposed  to  be  sufficient  for  the  cultivation  of  the  religious 
life  of  all  the  inhabitants.  But  the  results,  as  history  records 
them,  do  not  commend  the  plan.  And  if  such  a  union  is  to  be 
secured  at  the  cost  of  liberty  of  conscience,  freedom  of  action,  and 
the  suppression  of  private  judgments,  some  of  us  are  not  ready  for 
it.  Beside  the  immediate  application  of  the  proposed  plan  is  op- 
posed to  the  law  of  growth  or  the  evolution  of  the  life  of  the 
Church,  That  Life  ever  refuses  to  be  confined  to  rigid  and  pre- 
determined forms. 

What  the  end  will  be  when  we  all  come,  through  various  min- 
istries, "unto  the  unity  of  the  faith  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Son 
of  God,"  even  an  inspired  apostle  cannot  tell  us,  beyond  the  fact 
that  it  will  be  the  "fulness  of  Christ."  It  is  enough  to  know 
that  in  walking  "worthy  of  our  vocation,  with  all  lowliness  and 
meekness,  with  longsufFering,  forbearing  one  another  in  love,  en- 
deavoring to  keep  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,"  we 
shall  grow  into  the  desired  result. 

Another  plan,  representing  an  extreme  view  on  the  opposite 
side,  is  that  of  dividing  the  mission  field,  as  far  as  possible,  among 
the  different  denominations.  It  has  under  present  conditions  its 
advantages.  Already  in  use,  it  has  at  least  prevented  interference 
in  the  work  and  helped  in  its  efficiency.  It  serves  the  present 
emergency,  and  tends  in  some  measure  toward  better  things,  as  a 


262  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

truce  in  time  of  war  aids  in  the  establishment  of  peace.  But,  after 
all,  it  is  a  mechanical  and  not  a  vital  measure.  It  is  a  recognition 
of  denominationalism,  and  it  may  work  to  intensify  itself.  It  is 
like  the  powers  of  Europe  dividing  Africa  for  their  own  exploita- 
tion and  aggrandizement.  It  is  not  the  permanent  attitude  which 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  should  take.  In  the  nature  of  the  case 
it  is  only  provisional. 

But  may  there  not  be  something  like  Aristotle's  Golden  Mean 
between  these  two  extremes  which  will  conserve  what  is  good  in 
both  of  them? 

The  plan,  while  it  should  not  require  the  extinction  of  denomi- 
nationalism, must  demand  that  it  shall  be  subordinate  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  common  cause.  But  at  the  same  time  it  must  secure 
the  hearty  cooperation  of  all,  on  terms  that  are  just  and  mutually 
advantageous  to  all  concerned.  All  this  is  as  plain  as  an  axiom. 
Again,  the  measures  proposed  by  this  plan  should  be  vital,  rather 
than  mechanical  in  their  nature;  that  is  to  say,  they  should  be  in 
accord  with  the  indwelling  spirit  and  life  of  the  Church.  This 
would  mean,  first,  unity,  in  counsel,  a  general  conference  like  that 
of  the  Apostolic  Church,  when  the  apostles  and  elders  came  to- 
gether for  the  consideration  of  a  certain  matter.  This  is  essential, 
and  it  would  tend  to  eliminate  misunderstandings,  envyings  and 
suspicions,  which  inevitably  result  from  isolation,  and  to  promote 
unity  of  effort.  In  such  a  conference  there  might  be,  as  in  that 
of  Jerusalem,  much  disputing;  but  in  the  end  such  conclusions  as 
would  edify  the  whole  Church. 

Second.  There  should  be  for  the  sake  of  greater  economy  and 
efficiency  in  the  mission  field,  cooperation  in  educational  work. 
All  are  agreed  as  to  the  necessity  of  Christian  schools.  It  is  idle 
to  talk  of  building  up  a  Christian  civilization,  or  of  maintaining  a 
pure  and  intelligent  faith  among  a  people,  without  education. 
The  Gospel  brings  mental  as  well  as  spiritual  enlightenment.  For 
this  reason  books,  printing  presses,  schools  and  colleges  are  essential 
adjuncts  to  missions.  But  reading,  writing,  aritlmietic,  geography 
and  the  various  sciences  are  not  denominational  affairs.  Tlie 
multiplication  table  is  not  the  property  of  any  one  branch  of  the 
Church.  Even  the  rules  of  passionless  arithmetic  can  instruct  us 
in  this  matter.  Fractions  are  troublesome  things  to  deal  with,  but 
the  best  way  is  to  reduce  them  to  a  common  denominator,  then 
we  can  combine  and  arrange  them  with  ease.  We  are  careful  to 
proclaim  the  fact  that  our  well  endowed  denominational  schools 


COOPERATION   IN   MISSION   SCHOOLS  263 

are  not  sectarian,  and  that  there  will  be  no  interference  with  the 
religious  preferences  of  those  who  attend  them.  Methodists  and 
Episcopalians  teach  in  Presbyterian  schools,  and  Presbyterians  and 
Congregationalists  in  those  of  the  Baptist,  and  yet  the  heavens 
have  not  fallen  and  denominationalism  still  flourishes.  Why  then 
can  there  not  be  cooperation  in  schools  in  a  mission  field?  There 
are  in  the  same  fields  struggling  schools  and  colleges  that  are 
agonizing  to  live.  Little  starvelings,  they  are  pleading  to  be  fed  for 
the  sake  of  some  particular  denomination.  Let  them  be  consoli- 
dated, and  their  faculties  be  composed  of  representatives  of  all  of 
the  Churches  occupjdng  the  field.  Or  at  least  let  them  agree  in 
the  establishment  of  some  central  college  for  the  higher  branches 
of  learning,  with  which  the  primary  schools  shall  be  coordinated. 

Another  urgent  need  of  the  mission  field  which  the  Federation 
of  the  Churches  alone  can  supply  is  adequate  provision  for  cate- 
chetical instruction.  In  the  instruction  of  non-Christian  peoples, 
as  in  the  instruction  of  children,  in  Christian  doctrine  there  is  a 
necessity  for  this  method. 

The  history  of  the  Church  shows  its  supreme  value  as  a  means 
of  propagating  the  faith.  Luther's  Child's  Catechism  saved  the 
Eeformation  to  future  generations.  The  Catechism  of  the  English 
Church  has  done  more  to  uphold  it  than  all  the  learned  disserta- 
tions of  her  great  scholars.  The  Shorter  Catechism,  far  more  than 
the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  has  affected  the  thought  and 
life  of  the  Presbyterian  Church;  and  more  than  any  one  book, 
except  the  Bible,  it  made  New  England  what  it  was  in  the  meridian 
of  its  Puritanism.  Some  of  us,  influenced  by  associations  and  con- 
victions, still  think  it  a  model  of  sound  teaching ;  but  we  are  willing 
to  let  it  remain  as  a  monument  to  the  wisdom  and  spiritual  dis- 
cernment of  our  fathers,  provided  a  better  primer  of  instruction  can 
be  furnished.  Agreement  upon  a  formula  of  sound  words  for 
primaT-y  and  fundamental  religious  instruction  ought  not  to  be  a 
difficult  matter.  Surely  it  would  be  no  infringement  of  our  Chris- 
tian liberty  to  state  the  things  that  are  commonly  believed  and  held 
by  all  in  such  a  way  that  those  untaught  in  the  Scriptures  could 
more  readily  grasp  and  hold  them  in  mind.  It  would  be  a  bond  of 
union  among  the  Churches  and  help  greatly  in  practical  teaching. 
Already  approaches  of  a  significant  character  have  been  made 
toward  the  measures  suggested.  We  have  the  Bible  Society,  the 
Tract  Society  and  the  American  Sunday  School  Union,  organiza- 
tions representing  the  common  life  of  the  Church,  ministering  in 


264  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

behalf  of  all ;  and  their  service  has  justified  their  existence.  They 
are  in  the  mission  field  with  the  various  Churches. 

They  were  organized  in  view  of  common  and  deeply  realized 
needs,  and  to  supply  them.  In  like  manner  the  needs  of  the  mis- 
sion field  call  urgently  for  some  united  action  on  the  part  of  the 
whole  Church.  No  one  branch  of  it  is  sufficient  for  the  work. 
There  is  no  one  denomination,  however  rich  in  men  and  means, 
that  would  dare  assume  the  whole  responsibility  for  the  work,  on 
the  condition  that  the  rest  should  withdraw  from  the  field.  A 
million  of  foreigners  coming  to  our  shores  in  one  year,  the  growing 
and  unevangelized  populations  in  our  great  cities,  new  territories 
growing  into  States,  into  which  the  institutions  of  the  Church  must 
be  planted — all  these  in  the  home  field  demanding  instant  atten- 
tion, and  the  vaster  millions  in  the  foreign  field  living  without  God 
and  without  hope  in  the  world.  Such  is  the  situation!  No  one 
who  knows  it  can  fail  to  say,  "All  are  needed,  all  are  called,  and 
let  the  curse  of  Meroz  be  upon  those  who  for  selfish  reasons  fail  to 
respond  to  the  demands  of  the  hour."  In  the  providence  of  G-od 
we  are  constrained  to  closer  union  for  service.  The  pressure  of 
His  great  and  eternal  purposes  concerning  the  establishment  of  His 
kingdom  is  upon  us.     What  shall  we  do  ? 

Sacred  history  tells  us  of  a  time  when  representatives  of  all 
the  tribes  of  Israel,  "men  of  war  that  could  keep  rank,  came  with 
a  perfect  heart  to  Hebron  to  make  David  king  over  all  Israel.  And 
all  the  rest  also  of  Israel  were  of  one  heart  to  make  David  king." 
It  was  the  beginning  of  a  movement  in  which  old  tribal  rivalries, 
dissensions  and  jealousies  were  surrendered  to  the  growing  demands 
of  the  national  life,  and  it  resulted  in  the  actual  fulfilment,  and 
for  the  first  time,  of  the  ancient  promise  that  the  seed  of  Abraham 
should  possess  the  land  from  Damascus  to  the  river  of  Egypt.  It 
was  followed  by  the  noontide  splendor  of  the  theocracy  under  the 
reign  of  Solomon.  If,  in  like  manner,  we  should  make  this  gather- 
ing our  Hebron,  and  come  with  a  perfect  heart  to  make  "Great 
David's  greater  Son"  king  over  all,  may  we  not  expect  the  speedy 
fulfilment  of  the  vision  of  the  seer,  as  yet  unrealized,  "The  king- 
doms of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  His 
Christ,  and  He  shall  reign  forever"? 

Denominationalism  has  been  characteristic  of  the  period  of  the 
development  of  the  Church  which  lies  immediately  behind  us ;  and 
its  existence,  though  attended  with  certain  evils,  has  not  been 
without  great  good.     The  several  denominations  have  been  light 


CHRIST    AND    HIS    CROSS  265 

bearers  in  the  night  of  the  world's  darkness.  They  have  shone  with 
varied  splendor,  as  stars  in  the  sky.  Their  end  is  not  yet.  But 
another  stage  of  development  is  approaching.  There  are  signs  of 
its  dawning,  and  denominationalism  is  less  intense,  "One  star 
differeth  from  another  star  in  glory,"  but  when  the  sun  is  risen  the 
difference  between  stars  is  no  longer  seen,  so  when  the  risen  and 
exalted  Christ  shall  be  clearly  before  us,  our  denominational  differ- 
ences will  be  lost  to  sight.  We  may  not  at  present  be  able  to  see 
all  that  should  be  done  to  promote  Federation,  but  certain  it  is 
that  if  we  walk  earnestly  and  resolutely  in  the  light  which  we  now 
have  more  light  will  be  given  us,  and  the  advancing  way  will  be 
made  plain. 

One  thing  we  do  know  with  absolute  certainty.  It  is  that  the 
bond  of  union  between  us,  in  whatever  way  that  union  may  be  made 
manifest,  must  ever  be  supreme  and  controlling  loyalty  to  Christ 
the  Son  of  God,  the  only  Saviour  of  the  world.  The  banner  lifted 
up  among  us  must  bear  no  such  motto  as,  "For  the  sake  of  human- 
ity," or  "The  unity  of  Protestantism,"  or  "Social  reform,"  or 
"Agreement  in  good  works" ;  it  must  have  on  it,  written  large  and 
clear,  Christ  and  His  Cross.  It  must  proclaim  a  divine  Saviour, 
Who  died  for  the  sins  of  men.  Who  rose  again  from  the  dead,  and 
MHio  is  now  enthroned  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father.  It  is  in 
His  name  that  we  must  unite,  and  in  His  name  conquer.  The 
supreme  aim  of  mission  work  is  not  the  betterment  of  man's  tem- 
poral and  social  condition,  but  the  salvation  of  lost  and  sinful  men 
through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  of  the  crucified  Christ.  For 
greater  eflQciency  in  moral  reforms,  for  the  suppression  of  vice,  and 
the  enforcement  of  just  laws,  men  of  all  beliefs.  Christian  and  non- 
Christian,  can  combine ;  but  in  this  work  of  seeking  the  salvation  of 
men  there  is  but  one  platform  on  which  to  stand,  and  one  name  in 
which  is  salvation : 

Our  Lord  and  Master  of  us  all 
Whate'er  our  name  or  sign. 

Brothers,  let  us  clasp  hands  in  His  name  and  pledge  ourselves  to 
go.  in  one  accord,  to  fulfil  His  last  command. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  Henry  L.  Morehouse,  D.D. 


The  mission  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is — Missions.  It  is  to 
make  Christ  known  and  to  persuade  lost  men  to  accept  Him  as 
Saviour  and  Lord.  It  is  the  divine  "intent  that  now  unto  the 
principalities  and  the  powers  in  the  heavenly  places  might  be 
made  known  through  the  Church  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God." 
"The  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say:  Come!" 

So,  one  aspect  of  our  subject  is:  A  United  Church  for  Home 
and  Foreign  Missions.  For  this  it  should  live  and  labor.  This  it 
originally  did,  beginning  at  Jerusalem  and  going  out  to  the  na- 
tions. The  new  consciousness  of  its  mission  during  the  last  cen- 
tury has  come  largely  from  the  providential  opportunities  and 
means  of  access  to  peoples  previously  inaccessible.  God  has  flung 
wide  open  the  doors  to  the  whole  world. 

Once  the  chief  mission  of  the  Church  seemed  to  be  the  de- 
fence of  the  faith,  as  against  the  Deism  and  the  infidelity  of  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  There  wiU  always  be  more 
or  less  of  this  work  to  do.  But  we  are  realizing  more  and  more 
that  the  most  cogent  demonstration  of  the  claims  of  Christianity 
is  not  in  the  domain  of  argument,  but  in  the  realm  of  life ;  in  the 
transformation  of  men  and  women;  of  the  social  and  the  civic 
order,  as  its  fruitage.  The  unselfish  forthputting  of  power  for  the 
world's  betterment  is  at  once  an  act  and  an  argument. 

Never  was  Christendom  more  united  in  this  great  mission  than 
now.  The  number  of  our  missionary  organizations  is  legion. 
Triumphs  of  the  Gospel  incite  to  greater  zeal.  The  old  anti- 
mission  element,  which  sorely  afflicted  some  denominations  in  this- 
country  fifty  to  seventy-five  years  ago,  has  become  small  by  de- 
grees and  beautifully  less,  and  is  a  vanishing  quantity. 

Not  all  our  Churches  are  actually  united  in  this  divine  enter- 
prise. Where  is  the  local  church  of  which  every  member  gives 
something  annually  to  missions  ?  Usually  the  few  give,  while  the 
many,  like  the  Levite  and  the  priest,  listen,  look  and  pass  by  on 
the  other  side.  The  fundamental  problem,  the  everlasting  prob- 
lem, is  how  to  get  all  the  members  of  all  our  Churches  heartily 
interested  in  missions  at  home  and  abroad.  A  united  Church  of 
this  sort  is  what  we  most  need. 

266^ 


UNION   THROUGH   HOME  AND   FOREIGN   MISSIONS       267 

Another  aspect  of  our  subject  is :  a  Church  united  by  home  and 
foreign  missions.  A  great  common  cause  has  a  wonderfully  unify- 
ing effect.  It  was  so  in  the  war  of  the  Eevolution,  the  War  of 
1812  and  the  war  for  the  Union.  Modern  missions  have  brought 
men  and  churches  out  of  their  isolation  and  littleness  to  partici- 
pation with  others  in  heroic  endeavor,  and  have  created  a  bond 
of  sympathy  and  comradeship  in  service  for  the  one  Lord.  The 
main  issue  overshadows  minor  ones.  Home  and  foreign  missions 
have  brought  about  a  fellowship  among  the  various  denominations 
of  our  land  that  was  before  unknown,  and  are  knitting  us  more 
closely  together  with  every  passing  year. 

The  third  and  principal  aspect  of  the  subject  which,  sup- 
posedly, I  am  expected  to  consider,  is:  To  what  extent  are  the 
Churches  already  united,  and  is  a  closer  union  between  denomina- 
tions and  their  missionary  organizations  practicable  and  desirable  ? 
No  sane  man  seriously  expects  to  see  here  a  united  ecclesiastical 
body,  into  which  all  others  shall  be  merged,  as,  for  instance,  the 
United  Church  of  the  United  States  of  America.  This  is  an 
iridescent  dream.  There  is  no  Baptist  Church  of  the  United 
States,  though  there  are  about  45,000  Baptist  churches  in  the 
United  States,  with  about  four  and  a  half  million  members ;  every 
church  and  every  man  recognizing  Christ  only  as  Head. 

Of  these  there  are  three  groups — the  white  Baptists  of  the 
North  and  West,  the  white  Baptists  of  the  South,  and  the  negro 
Baptists.  These  are  not  three  denominations,  as  sometimes  as- 
serted, for  in  all  essential  matters  of  faith  and  practice  they  are 
one.  These  constitute,  not  the  Baptist  Church,  but  the  Baptist 
denomination  of  the  United  States.  Northern  and  Southern 
Baptists  separated  sixty  years  ago  on  the  slavery  issue;  got  to- 
gether again  last  May  in  a  new  General  Convention ;  while  in 
several  States  and  in  some  Provinces  of  Canada  the  Eegular  and 
the  Free  Baptist  churches  are  coming  together;  and  the  first 
World  Baptist  Congress  in  London,  last  July,  was  a  sign  of  the 
times  for  closer  relationships.  In  other  denominations  similar 
things  are  going  on. 

The  first  and  best  thing  is  for  the  several  varieties  of  Baptists, 
Methodists,  Presbyterians  and  other  bodies  to  get  together  as  one 
species;  then  for  denominations  having  most  in  common  to  get 
together,  if  they  can;  and  then  see  what  remains  to  be  done.  We 
may  well  work  first  along  lines  of  least  resistance.  Meanwhile  we 
will  keep  sweet  and  loving,  in  fulfilment  of  our  Lord's  prayer — 


268  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

not  that  we  all  should  be  one  visible  Church,  but  as  individual  fol- 
lowers, one  in  likeness,  love  and  loyalty  to  Him,  though  members 
of  a  million  churches  of  every  people  and  every  condition  through- 
out the  world,  by  whatever  name  known — many  folds,  but  one 
flock  and  one  Good  Shepherd. 

Confining  myself  now  to  home  missions,  in  which  for  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  I  have  been  actively  engaged,  I  remark 
that  here  in  the  United  States  is  a  field  in  its  magnitude,  variety, 
complexity  and  urgency  such  as  no  other  Christian  people  ever  had 
to  cultivate  and  conquer  for  Christ.  The  expanding  West,  the 
pagan  Indians  and  Orientals,  the  unparalleled  migration  hither, 
our  great  cities,  our  Spanish-speaking  neighbors — all  these  have 
called  for  the  most  that  all  of  us  could  do.  We  have  numerous 
agencies  and  diverse  methods  of  doing  it.  Nobody  expects  a  con- 
solidation of  all  these  into  a  great  home  mission  trust.  Insuper- 
able legal  and  moral  obstacles  would  be  in  the  way  of  it,  even  if 
thought  desirable.  And  it  is  pure  conjecture  whether  such  an  or- 
ganization, if  brought  into  existence,  would  do  much  better  service 
for  Christ.  Neither  do  we  want  a  controlling  advisory  body  for  all. 
Sooner  or  later  its  meddlesomeness  would  be  intolerable.  We  can, 
nevertheless,  cooperate  in  many  ways  for  the  advancement  of  the 
work. 

Representatives  of  missionary  organizations  might  unite  in 
holding  home  mission  conferences  at  central  points,  presenting  a 
combination  of  attractive  speakers  that  would  secure  a  large  at- 
tendance and  produce  a  deep  impression.  Thus,  with  awakened  in- 
terest, enlarged  offerings  might  be  expected.  Joint  conferences  in 
the  interests  both  of  home  and  foreign  missions  are  desirable. 

In  our  Western  mission  fields  we  have  got  along,  on  the  whole, 
very  peaceably  and  prosperously.  So  far  as  the  denomination 
which  I  represent  is  concerned,  in  that  whole  region  there  is  not  a 
Baptist  Church  North  and  a  Baptist  Church  South,  but  every- 
where united  American  churches.  Eelations  between  the  mission- 
ary organizations  have  been  amicable.  We  have  had,  indeed,  a 
spirit  of  emulation,  and,  as  the  Scriptures  enjoin  us,  have  pro- 
voked one  another  to  good  works,  with  a  moiety  of  wrangling, 
considering  the  magnitude  of  our  operations.  Shoulder  to  shoulder 
heroic  pioneer  missionaries  have  stood  for  truth  and  righteous- 
ness, they  and  the  officers  of  various  organizations,  both  in  the 
West  and  Washington,  bringing  to  bear  the  weight  of  their  com- 
bined influence  against  Mormonism ;  against  too  drastic  legislation 


METHODS    OF    UNION  269 

for  the  exclusion    of    the    Chinese;    and    against    the  infamous 
Louisiana  lottery,  which  could  find  no  habitat  in  the  whole  West, 
and  so  went  to  Hawaii,  only  to  be  drowned  in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 
Neither  let  us  be  unduly  disturbed  about  alleged  waste  of  mis- 
sionary money  and  the  overchurching  of  Western  towns.    Like  a 
boy  with  a  tin  hom  and  a  drum,  filling  the  house  with  his  racket, 
now  and  then  a  discoverer  of  an  overchurched  town  makes  a  dis- 
tracting din  about  it,  as  if  that  were  the  rule  rather  than  the  ex- 
ception. Have  there  been  no  business  mistakes  and  miscalculations 
in  the  West?    Our  mistakes  in  these  respects  have  been  neither 
so  serious  nor  numerous  as  to  elicit  long  and  lachrymal  jeremiads. 
The  prescription  that  is  sometimes  given  for  such  cases  is  a 
"Union  Church,"  for  everybody  of  any  church  whatever.    These 
are  usually  short-lived.     Not  every  element  therein  is  so  thor- 
oughly sanctified  as  in  all  matters  to  "tote  fair."  A  Union  Church 
often  has  been  a  temptation  to  manipulation  at  an  opportune 
moment  for  transformation  into  a  denominational  church,  leaving 
a  dissenting  remnant  rubbing  their  eyes  and  wondering  what  to 
do  with  themselves. 

"Peace  with  honor,"  is  the  word  of  our  great  President,  the 
foremost  figure  among  the  world's  peacemakers.  There  are  things 
worse  than  war.  True  peace  sometimes  has  to  be  fought  for. 
Forty  years  ago  we  had  a  war  which  changed  the  old  Union  with 
its  irrepressible  conflict  into  a  new  and  more  glorious  Union  of  a 
better  brotherhood  than  had  ever  been  known. 

Union  for  mere  expediency  or  for  sentiment's  sake  may  by  the 
sacrifice  of  vital  principles  dishonor  Christ.  We  already  have  about 
enough  of  flabby,  accommodating  Christianity.  Indeed,  a  little 
more  definite  lining  up  of  evangelical  Christianity  would  be  salu- 
tary, even  though  it  created  a  ripple  here  and  there.  General 
rules  of  comity  between  missionary  organizations  are  practicable ; 
but  hard-and-fast  rules  in  detail  are  impossible.  Who  can  hinder 
a  dozen  or  twenty  people,  if  they  will,  from  combining  for  re- 
ligious services  according  to  their  preferences  ?  Neither  numbers 
nor  wealth  in  a  community  are  decisive  in  church  matters.  A 
spiritually  minded  widow  with  her  mite  may  be  worth  more  to  the 
Kingdom  than  a  score  of  worldly  and  wealthy  people.  And,  in 
the  shifting  population  of  the  West,  the  strongest  denomination 
in  a  town  to-day  may  be  the  weakest  to-morrow.  Time,  and  not  a 
very  long  period  at  that,  determines  the  question  of  survival.  The 
West  looms  large  in  this  century,  and  hundreds  of  weak  churches 


270  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

there  to-day  will  be  strong  a  generation  hence,  just  as  weak  ones 
a  generation  ago  are  now  strong  in  great  centres  of  population. 
There  is  more  than  enough  for  all  of  us  to  do  without  seriously- 
getting  in  each  other's  way. 

In  our  work  for  the  North  American  Indians  a  common  law  of 
comity  prevails.  A  particular  field  occupied  and  cultivated  by 
one  organization  is  rarely  encroached  upon  by  another.  Recently 
the  Congregationalists  have  made  over  an  Indian  mission  station 
to  the  Baptists,  who  were  first  on  the  field,  and  are  adequately 
tilling  it;  while  the  Baptists,  who  were  urged  to  establish  a  mis- 
sion among  a  large  tribe,  refrained  from  doing  so  because  another 
denomination  had  a  mission  in  a  remote  portion  of  that  reserva- 
tion which  they  claimed  as  their  own. 

The  division  of  Indian  reservations  among  the  denominations 
is  in  a  measure  a  legacy  of  the  peace  policy  of  President  Grant. 
We  are  united  in  this  division  of  fields  which  leaves  each  to  till  his 
ovm  patch  without  molestation.  Among  the  civilized  tribes  of 
Indian  Territory  and  among  some  others  elsewhere  numerous  and 
widely  dispersed,  there  is  room  for  several,  if  not  for  all.  And 
our  missionary  organizations  are  now  united  against  appropria- 
tions, either  directly  or  indirectly,  of  public  money  for  the  main- 
tenance of  sectarian  schools  for  the  Indians,  standing  solidly  for 
separation  of  Church  and  State. 

The  Freedmen  of  forty  years  ago  furnished  a  unique  field  for 
missionary  effort.  The  first  outfit  of  the  missionary  was  the 
spelling  book  and  the  Bible.  Since  then  education  and  evangeliza- 
tion have  gone  forward  together,  with  emphasis  now  upon  Chris- 
tian education  for  the  preparation  of  proper  leaders  for  the  race. 
Moved  mightily  by  Christian  compassion,  all  denominations,  as 
one  man,  addressed  themselves  grandly  to  the  task.  Some  that 
had  tbe  smallest  following  among  the  negroes  have  done  as  much 
as  others  largely  represented.  For  all  that  all  could  do  there  has 
been  ample  room,  and  to-day  our  schools  are  overflowing  with 
eager  pupQs. 

In  the  advanced  stage  of  this  work  at  the  present  time  new 
questions  arise  that  might  be  profitably  considered  in  common  by 
representatives  of  these  organizations,  e.  g.,  uniform  courses  of 
study  in  institutions  of  the  same  rank;  industrial  as  related  to 
general  education;  rates  of  tuition  and  board;  matters  of  disci- 
pline and  many  other  matters  tending  toward  uniformity,  har- 
mony and  higher  efficiency.    Those  of  us  who  have  been  longest 


THE    PROBLEMS    OF    IMMIGRATION  271 

identified  with  this  work  are  firmly  united  in  the  opinion  that  here 
has  been  one  of  the  best  missionary  investments  of  the  century, 
and  that  whoever  asserts  that  the  American  negro  is  incapable  of 
high  attainments  and  that  time  and  money  have  been  wasted  on 
him  thereby  discounts  his  own  sanity,  traduces  the  race  and  dis- 
honors Christ,  its  Maker  and  Kedeemer. 

I  am  sure  also  that  it  is  our  united  belief  that  God  in  His 
providences  is  bringing  us  millions  from  other  lands  with  a  low 
type  of  religion,  for  their  evangelization,  and  that  unless  we  evan- 
gelize them  they  will  demoralize  us.  In  saying  this,  at  the  same 
time  I  recognize  a  desirable  element  from  other  European  lands, 
which  has  made  valuable  contributions  to  our  national  well  being. 
In  this  conviction  we  have  wrought  successfully  among  many  na- 
tionalities. 

The  society  which  I  represent  has  missionaries  among  twenty- 
five  nationalities  and  peoples.  Doubtless  others  could  make  a 
similar  report. 

The  field  is  vast;  is  white  unto  harvest;  the  laborers  all  too 
few.  To  what  extent  combined  effort  in  our  great  cities,  three- 
fourths  of  whose  population  is  of  foreign  birth  and  parentage,  is 
possible,  has  been  or  will  be  considered  by  other  speakers  at  this 
Conference.  Here  at  least  is  the  mingling  of  home  and  foreign 
missions;  here  a  vast  foreign  mission  field,  a  world-wide  mission 
field,  flung  down  at  our  very  doors ;  multitudes  almost  inaccessible 
abroad  touched  by  us  at  every  turn. 

In  a  few  instances  there  has  been  friction  in  these  fields,  as 
when  the  representative  of  one  society  has  allured  a  worker  of 
another  by  offer  of  a  larger  salary,  or  when  a  discredited  worker 
of  one  has  been  adopted  by  another.  Even  such  exceptional  cases 
should  be  rendered  impossible  by  a  good  understanding  among  all 
concerned. 

Many  of  our  Churches  that  are  aglow  for  the  salvation  of  men 
afar  have  only  a  languid  interest  in  the  conversion  of  those  here. 
What  we  need  is  a  revelation  of  our  opportunity,  our  obligation, 
our  possibilities,  that  shall  effect  a  revolution  in  our  efforts  in  their 
behalf. 

In  Porto  Rico  and  Cuba  we  are  working  together  beautifully 
and  with  great  success.  At  the  outset,  about  six  years  ago,  the 
secretaries  of  several  different  societies  issued  a  joint  statement  to 
the  Porto  Ricans  concerning  our  common  purposes  and  desires  in 
sending  missionaries  thither.     There  is  a  comity  agreement  con- 


272  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

ceming  the  occupation  of  fields  by  the  different  denominations. 
Conferences  between  the  workers  of  different  societies  are  held 
and  brotherly  love  abounds.  And  those  Catholic  countries,  almost 
without  religion  six  years  ago,  are  resonant  with  songs  of  the  Ee- 
deemer. 

Brethren  and  fathers  in  this  Conference,  look  in  whatever  di- 
rection you  will,  you  find  a  minimum  of  friction  and  contention 
and  an  approximate  maximum  of  good  will  and  harmony.  We  are 
fighting,  not  one  another,  but  the  common  enemy.  If,  without  the 
sacrifice  of  vital  truths  and  principles,  we  can  get  closer  together 
as  regiments  of  the  Church  militant,  let  us  do  it.  Home  and 
foreign  missions  are  getting  close  together.  There  is  an  inter- 
play of  vital  forces  and  reinforcement  of  each  by  the  other.  Con- 
verts from  European  and  Asiatic  immigrants  have  borne  back  to 
their  native  lands  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel;  while  fruits  of  the 
work  there  have  come  into  our  gamer  here.  The  American  negro 
is  a  missionary  in  Africa,  and  sons  of  Ethiopia  are  in  our  schools 
for  the  negroes  here.  From  the  fields  of  home  mission  tillage  in 
the  West  millions  of  dollars  and  many  hardy,  heroic  missionaries 
have  gone  to  foreign  lands.  Injustice  to  the  Orientals  here  may 
have  its  resounding  retribution  in  the  land  of  the  Simini.  Our 
flagrant  vices  become  barriers  to  the  acceptance  of  the  Gospel  in 
heathen  lands.  At  whatever  cost,  the  fires  must  be  kept  burning 
brightly  here,  and  kindled  abroad  wherever  possible.  To  the  front, 
with  amazing  strides,  America  has  leaped  as  a  great  world  power 
in  the  interests  of  Justice  and  peace,  binding  the  nations  more 
closely  into  a  worldwide  brotherhood.  Place  this  to  the  credit  of 
Christianity.  Make  this  power  more  positive  and  potent  for  good, 
assured  that  the  thorough  evangelization  of  America  is  of  para- 
mount importance  both  for  the  preservation  and  perpetuation  of 
the  best  in  our  civilization  and  for  the  more  speedy  evangelization 
of  the  world. 

"God  be  merciful  unto  us  and  bless  us,  and  cause  his  face  to 
shine  upon  us,  that  thy  way  may  be  known  upon  earth,  thy  salva- 
tion among  aU  nations." 


REV.  CHAKLKS   R.  WATSON,  D.D. 


RKV.  JOHN  1'.  PETERS,  D.I). 


REV.  WM.  WALTON  CLARK,  D.D. 


REV.  DAVID   H.  BAUSLIN,  D.D. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  Bishop  Charles  H.  Fowler,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


A  Dutch  justice,  in  Pennsylvania,  said  to  the  opposing  coun- 
sel :  "Gentlemen,  when  you  presents  both  sides  you  confuses  me." 
So  I  stand  here  a  little  confused.  One  learned  doctor  gave  six- 
teen distinct  reasons  for  Federation.  Then  1  was  sure  that  we 
had  a  great  field  and  task.  Now  we  hear  about  the  denominations, 
a  noble  statement ;  now  I  can  only  ask  in  the  classical  language  of 
Congress,  "Where  are  we  at?" 

"We  can  do  nothing  against  the  truth,  but  for  the  truth." 
There  is  a  high  authority  for  this  word  of  encouragement.  "All 
things  shall  work  together  for  good  for  them  that  love  the  Lord." 
This  also  has  high  authority.  These  are  the  two  piers  upon  which 
I  hang  this  Federation  bridge.  These  give  us  an  opportunity  to 
experiment  in  safety.  It  is  only  a  Federation.  It  is  only  an 
agreement  between  autonomies.  It  leaves  these  autonomies  in- 
tact. The  denominations  are  left  in  their  freedom.  We  can 
run  over  this  bridge  sidewalks,  or  horse  tracks,  or  trolley  tracks, 
or  elevated  tracks,  as  we  please.  We  do  not  all  have  to  travel 
in  the  same  way  or  in  the  same  conveyance.  Indeed,  we  are  not 
obliged  to  take  the  bridge  at  all.  We  can  take  the  old  ferry. 
Some  may  prefer  to  go  by  water.  Federation  leaves  the  denomi- 
nations free.  Freedom  is  the  greatest  thing  in  the  universe. 
It  is  the  dream  of  all  the  races.  Often  it  has  seemed  to  be  only 
a  nightmare,  as  in  Kussia  to-day.  But  beyond  this  nightmare 
is  the  realized  dream,  constitutional  liberty — freedom. 

Protestantism  was  born  amid  a  fierce  struggle  of  the  human 
mind  against  a  Church  organism.  When  there  was  but  one  free 
brain  in  all  the  earth,  and  that  occupied  St.  Peter's  chair,  truth 
had  but  little  chance.  The  eighty  years'  war  tells  the  cost  and 
value  of  liberty.  Holland,  glorious  Holland,  from  whom  we 
have  received  free  conscience,  free  speech,  free  press,  free  judges, 
counsel  for  the  accused,  subpoenas  for  his  witnesses,  rights  of 
property  for  women,  and  open  schools  for  boys  and  girls  alike,  all 
the  great  elements  which  make  up  a  free  government,  truths  and 
liberties  enough  for  a  thousand  republics,  great,  magnificent  Hol- 
land, that  during  the  eighty  years'  war  stood  alone  for  freedom, 
fighting  on  the  picket  line  against  Komanism  and  Bourbon  kings, 

273 


274  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

can  tell  what  a  free  conscience  has  cost  and  is  worth.  Protestant- 
ism born  amid  such  fierce  struggles  and  marching  up  to  such 
heroic  fields,  can  be  trusted  to  guard  against  creating  another 
world-dominating  Church. 

For  one,  I  do  not  want  Protestantism  compacted  into  one 
great,  organized  body.  Human  nature  is  the  same.  Let  one 
Church  control  the  votes  and  she  will  control  the  politicians.  Con- 
trolling the  politicians,  she  will  control  the  power  of  the  Grov- 
emment,  and  not  many  centuries  will  pass  before  she  will  repeat 
the  corruption  and  cruelties  of  the  Apostolic  Church.  I  want 
the  denominations  to  stand  free,  each  on  its  own  convictions.  I 
have  a  great  admiration  for  the  stately  Presbyterian  Church;  she 
has  a  great  record,  holds  her  families  by  her  brave  and  careful 
teaching  of  her  children,  and  is  doing  a  mighty  work  for  God.  I 
greatly  admire  the  aggressive  Baptist  Church.  She  is  working 
mightily  for  God.  Also  the  Episcopal  Church  and  all  the  other 
Protestant  Churches.  I  want  the  denominations  to  stand.  True, 
there  may  be  at  times  unseemly  strife,  but  that  is  better  than 
death.  Two  fast  horses,  running  together,  watch  each  other, 
and  if  one  gets  an  advantage  the  other  bites  and  kicks  under 
the  pole.  I  would  rather  drive  such  a  team,  and  take  my  chances 
for  getting  there,  than  to  drive  a  span  of  old  crowbaits  that  you 
cannot  hurry  faster  than  a  walk.  I  want  the  denominations  to 
run  at  their  best,  provoking  one  another  to  good  works. 

You  remember  the  words:  "Let  him  that  hath  no  sword,  sell 
his  garment  and  buy  one."  Be  sure  and  secure  the  agencies  that 
will  win.  Muster  into  the  service  outside  and  helpful  forces. 
Competition— friendly  and  vigorous  competition— is  of  value. 
Two  Churches  in  the  average  town  would  each  do  better  than 
either  Church  alone.  In  running  a  Sunday  School  no  good  super- 
intendent is  forgetful  of  the  inspiration  and  stimulus  that  comes 
from  having  both  men  and  women  as  teachers.  Some  outside 
helps  are  valuable.  So  there  comes  from  the  free  swing  of  de- 
nominations not  a  little  stimulus  to  activit}\ 

One  great  law  of  nature  is  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  The 
big  fish  swallow  the  little  fish,  the  big  denominations  swallow— 
absorb— the  little  ones.  That  is  nature:  cold,  hard,  remorseless 
nature.  Not  so  in  grace;  that  is  a  liigher  order.  The  order  of 
grace  is  not  that  the  strong  shall  devour  the  weak,  but  the  strong 
shall  help  the  weak.  In  God's  order  the  strong  Churcli  is  to 
help  the  weak. 


THE    PROPER    SPIRIT    OF    FEDERATION  275 

The  proper  spirit  of  Federation  makes  this  more  possible 
and  a  high  duty.  Some  will  say  that  there  will  be  difficulties 
in  applying  the  plans  of  Federation  and  administering  the 
Churches.  Some  of  the  denominations  have  no  contracting  party. 
It  is  found  in  practice  that  one  man  may  agree  to  a  fair  division 
of  the  territory,  but  as  soon  as  he  is  gone  another  man  comes 
in  and  says,  "I  know  nothing  about  such  an  agreement,"  and  over- 
rides the  agreement  to  which  he  was  not  a  party.  They  will  also 
say,  "It  is  also  found  in  practice  that  one  man  accepts  a  field  and 
others  agree  to  keep  out.  Soon  a  better  call  comes  to  him  and  he 
goes.  The  denomination  having  no  special  nurse  for  sick 
churches,  such  as  a  presiding  elder,  the  church  dies  out  and  others 
are  estopped  from  entering.  There  are  communities  left  entirely 
without  the  Gospel  through  the  unfortunate  application  of  the 
principles  of  Federation.  It  will  take  great  wisdom  and  great 
grace  to  apply  these  principles  so  as  to  do  the  least  harm  pos- 
sible." All  this  is  true,  "It  must  needs  be  that  offences  come, 
but  woe  unto  him  through  whom  they  come." 

When  this  world  of  ours  was  one  shoreless  sea,  and  the  vacuum 
caused  by  the  cooling  of  the  substances  under  the  crust  became 
too  great  to  bear  the  pressure,  and  the  crust  broke  up  and  the 
mountains  were  thrust  up,  and,  as  the  Book  says:  "The  dry  land 
appeared,"  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  was  a  great  crashing  and 
crushing  among  the  rocks.  I  am  sure  of  it.  We  can  see  the 
gashes  and  scars  on  the  mountain  sides  to  this  day.  Doubtless 
some  of  the  mighty  shades  of  Chaos  cried  out,  "Hold  on  there, 
you  are  crushing  our  ancient  order,  you  are  spoiling  the  smooth 
and  placid  beauty  of  our  world,  you  are  interfering  with  the  wide 
sweep  of  the  ocean's  currents  and  storms,  that  rush  round  and 
round  the  world,  thinking  that  they  are  going  somewhere."  Pos- 
sibly some  of  the  advanced  shades,  hoping  for  the  best,  would 
say:  "It  will  take  great  wisdom  to  administer  such  an  upheaval." 
Yet  I  am  persuaded  that  the  result  of  the  upheaval  was  great 
gain.  I  would  gladly  trade  that  shoreless,  stormy  sea  for  this 
beautiful  earth  of  ours,  with  its  mountains  holding  up  the  blue 
dome  over  our  heads  and  the  rich  valleys  with  thundering  cata- 
racts and  babbling  brooks,  with  fruitful  and  flowering  fields  for 
the  homes  of  men.  So  I  think  about  this  work  of  Federation.  It 
may  require  wisdom  to  administer  it  without  loss,  yet  the  out- 
come when  wisely  adjusted  may  be  for  the  more  speedy  coming 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 


276  CHVROE   FEDERATION 

The  supreme  law  in  nature  is  an  everlasting  pulling  toward 
the  centre.  This  represents  what  is  going  on  in  human  society. 
While  sin  is  a  disintegration,  righteousness  is  a  concentration.  Sin 
is  centrifugal,  righteousness  is  centripetal.  Babel  and  Pentecost 
bracket  the  life  of  the  race.  As  civilization  widens,  it  widens 
its  combinations.  German  States,  barely  out  of  barbarism  and 
a  baptized  semi-barbarism,  were  broken  into  little  kingdoms,  and 
dukedoms,  and  principalities,  and  petty  States.  Yet,  Germany,  in- 
spired and  elevated  by  Protestantism,  rises  into  one  vast  empire, 
holding  the  balance  of  power  in  Europe.  Great  Federations  of 
Protestantism  are  as  certain  as  gravity. 

One  marked  indication  of  this  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the 
great  denominations  are  changing  emphasis.  Each  strong  denomi- 
nation was  bom  out  of  the  soul  agony  of  some  great  character, 
trying  to  rescue  and  bring  to  the  front  some  long-neglected  truth. 
His  great  sacrifices  for  this  truth  have  attracted  other  earnest 
souls,  and  so,  in  the  very  substance  of  character,  a  new  denomi- 
nation was  bom.  Its  adherents  were  put  on  the  defensive.  Thus 
they  emphasized  their  peculiarity,  handled  quietly  the  truths  they 
held  in  common  with  other  Churches.  By  and  by,  when  they  had 
fought  their  way  to  the  front,  they  did  not  need  to  give  the  reason 
for  their  existence,  and  so  ceased  to  present  that  always.  In 
our  time  the  great  denominations  have  passed  the  apologetic  stage 
and  have  shifted  their  emphasis  from  their  peculiarities  to  the 
substances  held  in  common  with  other  denominations.  Thus  we 
are  lifted  by  the  gravity  of  our  character  into  an  age  of  Federa- 
tion. Federation  is  as  natural  a  fruit  of  this  time  as  confessions 
of  faith  were  of  the  age  of  the  agonizing  search  after  truth. 

The  errand  on  which  this  generation  was  sent  this  way  was 
to  tell  the  good  news — the  Gospel  of  life  and  liberty.  Perhaps 
the  greatest  missionary,  home  and  foreign,  is  our  great  republic. 

It  has  been  our  job  to  teach  the  world  a  thing  or  two.  We 
had  a  great  father — may  his  name  never  be  mentioned  except 
with  great  respect — Washington.  He  was  an  inspired  Providential 
man,  fitted  perfectly  for  the  niche  half  way  between  royalty  and 
democracy.  His  words  were  inspired  wisdom.  He  told  us  to  mind 
our  own  business.  Beware  of  foreign  entanglements.  This  fitted 
us  perfectly,  fitted  us  like  a  bib;  we  pinned  it  on  and  wore  it. 
We  worked  away  at  our  new  continent — we  cut  down  our  forests 
— dug  down  our  mountains — plowed  up  our  plains — packed  up 
our  profits.     We  stretched  our  limbs  and  hardened  our  muscles 


HISTORY   IN    THE    MAKING  277 

and  grew  and  grew  to  strong  young  manhood.  We  broadened 
our  chest  until  our  bib  looked  like  a  patch  on  our  breast.  But 
we  stuck  to  it.  True,  one  day,  when  the  Algerines,  having  driven 
most  of  the  traders  of  other  nations  from  the  seas,  interfered 
with  our  merchants,  then  we  took  off  our  bib  and  spoke  to  them 
on  the  subject.  We  told  them  that  if  they  ever  touched  another 
American  merchant  we  would  give  them  the  stripes  until  they 
saw  the  stars.  Then  we  came  home  and  pinned  on  our  bib  again, 
perfectly  contented  with  our  South  Atlantic  waters ;  we  drifted 
into  Havana  harbor  and  dreamed  of  peace  till  the  Spaniai'ds 
touched  off  that  magazine  under  the  Maine.  Then  God  spoke  to 
us  as  to  the  prophet  of  old,  "What  do  ye  here?"  Then  we  woke 
up,  and  got  up  and  went  up  and  we  came  down  everywhere  to 
stay.    This  is  not  politics — it  is  religion. 

We  were  sent  everywhere  as  a  missionary  to  teach  mankind 
lessons  in  liberty.  We  have  a  great  class.  France  was  our  first 
pupil.  We  took  her  beautiful  rhetoric  about  liberty,  ran  it 
through  our  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  brought  it  out  not 
rhetoric  about  liberty,  but  liberty  itself,  and  sent  it  back  to  her. 
Japan  is  our  next  pupil,  a  boarding  pupil  who  came  to  study. 
She  has  graduated.  She  is  now  teaching  school  herself.  She  has 
two  pupils,  China  and  Korea.  She  now  thinks  that  she  can  teach 
us  some  new  tricks.  She  has  practiced  her  jiu-jitsu  on  the 
Northern  Bear  and  poses  as  a  professor  for  all  nations.  She 
wants  to  teach  America. 

We  have  a  large  class  of  boys  from  South  America-  We  have 
done  much  for  them.  They  have  learned  the  forms  of  liberty, 
but  have  missed  the  principles.  Their  governments  are  like  a 
church  sociable  without  refreshments,  the  form  without  the 
power;  we  have  not  done  for  them  all  they  need.  They  are  more 
fond  of  athletics  than  of  hard  study.  They  are  pugiKsts  rather 
than  students. 

We  have  another  great  pupil,  "The  Bear"  that  walks  like  a 
man.  This  pupil  has  been  attending  night  school  under  our  head 
master,  "Strenuous  Teddy,"  who  is  the  foremost  man  of  our 
time;  forceful  as  a  gladiator,  intelligent  as  a  Boston  lawyer,  quick 
as  an  athlete,  bold  as  a  brigand,  wise  as  a  philosopher,  honest  as 
nature,  and  as  farsighted  as  a  prophet,  he  has  wrought  the  great- 
est achievement  of  modem  times.  By  his  candor  and  courage 
he  has  forced  a  peace  between  two  nations  and  has  lifted  the  last 
civilized  despot  from  his  throne  and  absolutism  and  seated  him 


278  CHURCH    FEDERATIOl^l 

upon  a  constitution.  This  is  a  part  of  our  foreign  mission  Avork, 
opening  the  doors  of  all  lands  for  the  free  ingress  of  the  Gospel. 
America  is  now  the  world's  great  missionary. 

Let  the  denominations  make  a  great  treaty,  a  Federation,  and 
join  hands  and  we  can  lift  this  nation  into  righteousness.  Then 
William  III.  and  Edward  VII.  and  "Teddy"  the  First  and  the 
last,  joining  hands,  can  dictate  peace  to  mankind.  Not  a  soldier 
anywhere  on  the  face  of  the  earth  can  lift  his  foot  without  their 
consent.  Thus  the  millennium  will  swing  in  through  the  "big 
front  door." 


ADDRESS 
The  Rt.  Rev.  J.  M.  Levering,  D.D. 


It  is  doubtless  generally  recognized  that  the  peculiar  significance 
of  this  assembly  lies  not  so  much  in  its  size,  for  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  large  religious  gatherings,  nor  yet  in  the  mere  fact  that 
representatives  of  many  Churches  are  here,  for  such  demonstra- 
tions have  become  common,  but  rather  in  the  fact  that  it  is  an 
officially  delegated  Inter-Church  body  formed  by  action  of  the  con- 
stituted authorities  of  the  represented  Churches. 

This  indicates  one  of  the  impressive  epoch-making  movements 
which  mark  the  opening  decade  of  the  twentieth  century,  with  its 
many  large  conceptions  in  various  spheres. 

This  movement  combines  the  ideal  and  the  practical  in  a  cer- 
tain maturity  of  character  as  the  culmination  of  successive  ante- 
cedent movements  traced  in  looking  back  over  the  years  of  many 
generations. 

There  are  some  of  us  whose  ecclesiastical  traditions  have,  since 
long  before  Calvin  wrote  to  Cranmer  three  hundred  and  fifty  years 
ago  about  trying  to  heal  the  breaches  among  Protestants,  consist- 
ently held  the  idea  of  magnifying  essential  unity,  with  diversity 
in  the  minors  of  creed  and  in  polity  and  ritual  conceded  as  not 
only  unavoidable  but  even  salutary;  and  of  standing  on  this  plat- 
form in  a  common  effort  to  realize  our  Saviour's  high-priestly 
prayer  and  to  carry  out  His  last  great  commission. 

Pardon  this  allusion  to  the  Moravian  Church.  It  is  not  a  boast, 
but  is  our  testimony  on  coming  into  this  Conference  as  numerically 


A  UNITED  CUIRCH  AND  HOME  AND  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  279 

one  of  the  least  among  the  princes  of  Judah.  We  prize  this  an- 
cient heritage  of  principles  on  which  was  based  an  attempted  evan- 
gelical alliance  for  practical  Gospel  work  amid  ill  conditions  in 
Pennsylvania  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  ago  when  polemics 
ruled,  and  which  anticipated  the  advanced  thought  of  American 
Christians  of  various  names  and  creeds  coming  into  touch  in  these 
better  days. 

INTow  that  the  points  of  difference  are  no  longer  so  generally 
made  paramount  by  the  divisions  of  Protestantism,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  obliteration  of  these  is  no  longer  supposed  J;o  be 
necessary  to  the  kind  of  concord  desired,  we  are  glad  that  out  of 
the  crudities  of  earlier  schemes  and  experiments,  out  of  the  edu- 
cative and  preparatory  experiences  with  the  modern  evangelical  al- 
liance and  other  organizations  of  recent  times,  a  movement  with  an 
imposing  constituency  has  gradually  emerged  which  proceeds  on 
that  old  principle  of  unity  in  diversity  held  by  the  little-heeded  few 
of  various  communions  before  the  fulness  of  the  time. 

It  is  particularly  gratifying  that  on  this  principle  the  move- 
ment seems  likely  to  reach  a  practical  working  basis,  if  not  to-day 
or  to-morrow,  yet  in  the  not  too  distant  future,  on  which,  more 
fully  than  before  this,  "to  secure  cooperation  among  Churches  and 
Christian  workers  throughout  the  United  States  for  the  more  ef- 
fective promotion  of  the  interests  of  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

The  special  theme  of  this  hour  gives  such  a  purpose  a  world- 
wide sweep,  following  the  most  enthusiastic  idealist's  vision  of  com- 
bining for  the  evangelization  of  all  non-Christian  nations.  At  the 
same  time  it  directs  attention  into  most  practical  lines,  following 
the  thinking  of  those  who  hope  to  see  the  idea  of  the  community 
of  interests  which  in  these  days  is  increasingly  potent  in  advanced 
statesmanship,  industrial  economy  and  commercial  policy  applied 
in  a  more  business-like  manner  to  the  King's  business,  that  supreme 
enterprise,  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel. 

This  theme — "A  United  Church  and  Home  and  Foreign  Mis- 
sions"— may  be  taken  to  mean  simply  mere  practical  cooperation 
by  Christian  bodies  for  the  better  attainment  of  what  they  all  claim 
to  be  seeking  as  the  ultimate  object. 

This  is  the  promotion  of  the  interests  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
by  conserving  Christianity  in  Christian  lands  and  aggressively  prop- 
agating it  in  non-Christian  lands — the  meaning,  broadly  speaking, 
of  Home  and  Foreign  Missions. 

The  significance  of  the  position  one  takes  and  of  things  he  says 


280  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

in  matters  like  these  depends  somewhat  upon  what  he  represents. 
A  Moravian  delegate  to  this  Conference  does  not  represent  a  large 
force  in  point  of  numbers  or  external  influence  of  other  kinds  in 
connection  with  the  problems  of  the  home  Churches  in  city,  town 
and  country,  Moravian  work  in  North  America,  including  that 
among  the  Indians  and  Eskimos,  carried  on  in  sixteen  States  of  the 
Union  and  the  territory  of  Alaska,  besides  two  Provinces  of  West- 
em  Canada  and  the  coast  of  Labrador,  is  much  scattered.  Many 
of  the  Home  Missions  are  in  isolated  places.  Comparatively  few 
are  in  the  large  centers  of  population.  More  Moravian  Home  Mis- 
sionaries have  gone  out  "into  the  highways  and  hedges"  than  "into 
the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city."  Not  many  of  them  therefore  are 
actively  connected  with  the  practical  experiments  of  city  mission 
work.  We  do  not  presume  therefore  to  come  into  this  Conference 
with  suggestions  to  offer  to  those  who  are  in  the  midst  of  such 
city  work  where  the  idea  of  federated  activity  assumes  the  most 
practical  importance.  We  leave  these  particular  discussions  for 
those, who  are  laboring  with  the  problems. 

.We  do  stand  committed,  however,  on  principle,  to  the  endorse- 
ment and  support  of  every  move  which  promises  progress,  in  a  gen- 
eral way,  in  several  particulars,  such,  as  a  growing  recognition  of 
the  fact,  by  all  divisions  of  the  Church,  that  the  most  important 
ends  are  those  which  we  pursue  in  common ;  a  still  further  diminu- 
tion .of  sectarian  variance  and  competition  which  contradict  in  prac- 
tice what  is  avowed  in  theory  when  we  profess  faith  in  one  Church 
Universal  of  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Head;  a  reduction 
of  friction  in  the  working  machinery  of  the  Church,  in  its  several 
divisions,  so  that  less  time,  energy  and  money  may  be  wasted  in 
efforts  that  clash,  or  are  weakened  by  cross  purposes,  or  fail  of  the 
Divine  blessing  through  unholy  rivalry  on  the  ground  of  secondary 
denominational  specialties. 

There  are  progressing  stages  of  right  thought  and  action  in  the 
line  of  these  efforts.  First  is  comity  in  the  mere  sense  of  mutual 
tolerance  and  recognition,  even  where  agreement  means  no  more 
than  agreeing  to  amicably  disagree  and  avoid  collision.  Then  is 
the  stage  of  conference,  in  larger  or  smaller  groups,  when  ministers 
and  church  workers  of  different  divisions  are  willing  to  consult  and 
exchange  ideas  on  questions  which  should  interest  them  all.  This  is 
followed  naturally  by  efforts  at  cooperation  in  those  things,  local  or 
general,  in  which  all,  as  Christians,  are  concerned  and  are  imder  a 
common  duty  toward  the  communities  in  which  their  special  work 


THE  MORAVIAN  CHURCH  AND  FOREIGN  MISSIONS       281 

lies  or  toward  the  country  at  large.  Finally,  out  of  this  arises,  just 
as  naturally,  the  idea  of  Federation  for  the  purpose  of  making  co- 
operation more  effective,  locally  and  generally,  while  trying  to  show 
the  world  that  there  really  are  some  beliefs,  principles  and  objects  of 
endeavor  in  which  we  are  at  one. 

Perhaps  such  Federation  may,  in  the  first  experiment,  remain 
somewhat  intangible  and  may  not  at  first  reach  and  affect  the  de- 
tailed Home  Missionary  operations  of  the  several  Churches  in  citv' 
and  country  very  perceptibly.  But  even  if  a  central  organization 
formed  is  not  entrusted  with  much  authority  to  suggest  and  advise, 
its  uses  will  become  clearer  and  will  enlarge  through  experiment. 
The  usefulness  of  many  a  thing  is  not  fairly  recognized  until  it  be- 
gins to  be  used.  There  is  suggestive  truth  in  the  remark  of  a  recent 
writer  on  this  subject,  that  "the  telephone  central  and  the  bank- 
ing clearing-house  are  useful  in  spite  of  their  lack  of  authority.'"' 

When  the  thought  of  a  imited  Church  is  turned  upon  the  for- 
eign work,  a  Moravian  member  of  this  Conference  may  perhaps 
speak  from  the  standpoint  of  a  more  conspicuous  participant  in 
missionary  operations.  A  hundred  and  seventy-three  years  of  experi- 
ment in  missions  to  the  heathen,  which  gives  the  Church  I  represent 
its  best  known  character,  have  carried  it  through  a  long  graded 
school  of  education  in  principles,  aims  and  methods.  While  in  many 
particulars  it  may  claim  to  teach  many  other  Christian  bodies  with 
their  newer  work,  it  is  modestly  willing,  on  the  other  hand,  to  learn 
lessons  in  method  from  other  missions  in  which  the  highest  intel- 
ligence and  most  robust  enterprise  of  these  days  are  directed  upon 
the  problem  of  doing  the  Lord's  work  in  all  regions  and  among 
all  races  in  the  most  effective  manner.  The  fact  that  the  num- 
ber of  souls  associated  with  "our  congregations  gathered  from 
among  the  heathen"  is  nearly  three  times  as  large  as  the  total  mem- 
bership of  our  home  churches  in  Europe  and  America,  and  that  the 
prosecution  of  the  foreign  work  naturally  makes  upon  our  Church 
drafts  of  men  and  money  relatively  great,  presents  grave  questions 
in  these  days.  They  compel  study  not  only  of  improved  practical 
methods  but  also  of  wisely  selecting  the  fields  which  we  feel  ourselves 
in  duty  bound  to  further  hold  or  to  enter.  In  the  midst  of  this  we 
have  learned  some  experiences  in  comity  and  cooperation  which 
strengthen  faith  in  more  general  effort  directed  to  this  end. 

We  have,  on  the  one  hand,  surrendered  historic  fields  such  as 
Greenland  and  several  Indian  missions  to  the  care  of  other  Christian 
bodies  which,  under  modern  circumstances,  could  carrv  on  the  work 


282  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

to  better  advantage.  In  doing  this  we  have  desired  not  to  be  charge- 
able with  wasting  our  Lord's  goods  out  of  mere  denominational  con- 
siderations. We  have  also  thereby  testified  our  belief  that  other 
Christians  would  propagate  as  sound  a  Christianity  among  the  peo- 
ple who  were  ours  as  we  would.  These  two  principles  of  concession 
we  hold  to  be  fundamental. 

On  the  other  hand  we  have  far  more  to  show  in  the  way  of  help 
received  from  other  Christians  in  prosecuting  the  work  provi- 
dentially put  into  our  hands.  I  am  thinking  now  of  the  London. 
Association  in  Aid  of  Moravian  Missions,  of  the  large  sums  en- 
trusted to  our  Church  by  people  outside  of  its  communion  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  for  the  same  purpose,  of  the  not  inconsiderable 
amounts  received  in  the  same  way  from  time  to  time  in  this  coun- 
try. Without  this  auxiliary  aid  Moravian  missions  in  their  present 
extent  would  be  financially  impossible. 

I  am  thinking  also  of  our  work  in  North  Queensland  for  which 
we  furnish  the  missionaries  and  the  experienced  management  and 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Australia  furnish  the 
money.  Nor  should  I  forget  to  mention  the  aid  of  other  Christians 
given  our  work  among  the  Lepers  at  Jerusalem,  and  the  cooperation 
of  Christians  in  maintaining  the  Bethesda  Home  for  the  Lepers 
of  Surinam,  to  the  superintendence  of  which  the  Moravian  Church 
gives  a  devoted  missionary  and  his  noble  wife. 

As  to  comity  and  cooperation  in  the  division  of  fields  between 
missionary  bodies  in  order  to  avoid  clashing  and  waste  and  to  evan- 
gelize a  large  territory  most  effectively,  we  may  point  to  German 
East  Africa,  where  the  Moravian  Church  has  a  prosperous  new  work, 
as  an  object  lesson.  A  fraternal  spirit  and  practical  common  sense 
unite  in  dividing  the  great  field  between  missionary  bodies  with  a 
view  to  promoting  the  interests  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  above  all 
other  interests. 

It  is  highly  significant  that  the  strongest  appeals  to  the 
Churches  to  move  in  the  direction  of  cooperation,  and  the  strongest 
arguments  in  favor  of  federating  interests,  at  least  in  some  lines  of 
activity,  come  in  from  those  who  are  laboring  in  the  foreign  mission 
work  and  are  studying  its  problems. 

It  is  pathetically  cogent  that  so  many  of  the  men  who  have  been 
sent  forth  to  evangelize  the  heathen  are  leading  us  in  this  direction, 
both  as  a  matter  of  high  principle  and  as  a  matter  of  practical  ex- 
pediency. They  are  furnishing  the  strongest  impulse  to  the  home 
Churches  to  rise  above  crude  and  petty,  narrow  and  selfish  ways  and 


A  UNITED  CHURCH  IN  A  UNITED  COUNTRY  283 

draw  nearer  together  on  the  ground  of  the  greater  things  to  be  done, 
An  inestimable  blessing  will  come  back  to  us  from  the  foreign  fields 
if  missionary  appeals  inspire  us  to  demonstrate  more  highly  that 
Christ  is  not  divided  and  that  His  body  with  many  members  is 
one. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  Bishop  C.   B.  Galloway,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Christian  Brethren: 

To  me  there  is  impressive  significance  in  the  fact  that  this  great 
Conference  meets  in  the  great  City  of  New  York,  where  sixty-one 
years  ago,  at  the  memorable  General  Conference  of  1844,  the  Church 
to  which  I  belong  was  divided,  and  thereafter  there  was  a  separate 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  for  each.  Then  followed  lamentable 
years  of  litigation  and  contention,  which  were  succeeded  in  turn  by 
four  years  of  war,  with  their  baptism  of  blood  and  tears.  Then 
came  the  days  of  fraternal  greetings,  followed  by  the  Cape  May 
Commission,  and  then  the  adoption  of  a  plan  of  federation,  and 
two  months  ago  we  began  to  sing  out  of  the  same  hymn  book,  to 
worship  God  after  the  same  form,  to  teach  our  children  the  same 
Catechism  and  to  continue  to  read  the  same  Bible. 

I  am  glad  that  this  spirit  also  obtains  throughout  the  nation.  I 
come  from  that  section  of  our  common  country  not  often  heard  on 
your  platforms,  once  separated  from  you  by  clashing  interests  and 
then  by  an  ever-to-be-regretted  war;  but  war  brought  us  together, 
and  in  the  words  of  a  great  Senator  of  Georgia,  "We  are  back  in 
our  father's  house  and  don't  propose  to  go  out  any  more." 

The  days  of  sectional  estrangement  are  gone,  never  to  return. 
This  nation  is  more  united  in  heart  and  hope  to-day  than  ever  in 
its  history.  The  honor  of  our  flag  is  as  dear  to  the  sons  of  the 
South  as  the  North,  and  wrapped  in  its  glorious  folds  they  have 
been  laid  to  sleep  in  the  same  heroic  graves.  My  prayer  is,  as  a 
son  of  the  South,  that  no  star  will  ever  fall  from  that  field  of  blue 
and  no  stripe  ever  remain  as  the  emblem  of  our  national  dishonor. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  come  from  a  State  that  claimed  as  its  most 
distinguished  citizen  the  "chief  of  the  Lost  Cause."  In  early  life 
he  was  the  pride  of  our  chivalry.     At  a  later  period  he  was  our 


284  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

greatest  parliamentary  leader.  His  teachings  were  our  doctrines; 
his  sufferings  were  our  bitterest  pain ;  his  death  our  sorest  bereave- 
ment, and  I  would  that  his  honored  remains  were  our  most  sacred 
treasure.  But  while  that  is  true,  and  looking  back  over  those  years 
we  have  many  regrets,  but  no  apologies,  I  am  glad  there  is  a  star 
on  our  national  flag  that  answers  to  the  proud  name  of  Mississippi. 

Such  is  our  happy  to-day.  But  we  are  facing  a  wonderful  to- 
morrow. There  are  new  problems  to  be  solved,  new  agencies  to  be 
employed,  new  dangers  to  be  averted,  new  enemies  to  be  arrested; 
and  a  greater  future  awaits  us  if  we  are  true  to  our  past  and  to  the 
spirit  of  our  Lord.  Without  sympathy,  with  that  gloomy  prophecy 
of  Lord  Macaulay  as  to  our  future  as  a  nation,  we  may  well  give 
heed  to  the  words  of  the  great  historian  and  political  philosopher : 
"As  for  America,"  said  he,  "I  appeal  to  the  twentieth  century. 
Either  some  Caesar  or  Napoleon  will  grasp  the  reins  of  power  with 
a  strong  hand,  or  that  land  will  be  laid  waste  by  barbarians  in  the 
twentieth  century,  as  the  Roman  Empire  was  in  the  fifth  century, 
with  this  difference:  The  Huns  and  Vandals  that  ravaged  Rome 
came  from  without  her  borders,  but  your  Huns  and  Vandals  will 
come  from  within  and  be  nourished  by  your  own  institutions." 
This  much  certainly  is  true,  that  all  our  dangers  are  from  within. 
No  foreign  foe  will  ever  plant  his  foot  upon  this  great  continent. 
There  may  be  conflicts  on  the  high  seas,  but  the  soil  of  America  is 
sacred  to  the  feet  of  Americans.  If,  therefore,  we  are  ever  threat- 
ened with  the  destruction  of  liberty,  vdth  the  uprooting  of  social 
order,  with  the  overthrowing  of  our  peculiar  and  historic  institu- 
tions, it  will  be  by  the  forces  and  influences  that  have  been  nour- 
ished within  our  own  bosoms. 

There  are  two  great  problems  which  seem  to  confront  us  as  a 
great  nation  and  as  Christian  Churches  to-day.  The  first  is  the 
problem  of  foreignism.  I  verily  believe  that  we  have  worked  that 
old  idea  of  the  "asylum  for  the  oppressed"  too  far.  Nine  hundred 
and  twenty-one  thousand  persons  coming  from  Europe  in  one  year, 
from  Austria-Hungary,  from  Italy,  from  Russia  and  other  coun- 
tries, strains  to  the  very  utmost  the  assimilating  power  of  our  social 
and  national  institutions  and  the  energies  of  the  Church  of  God. 
The  most  important  if  not  the  most  historic  vessel  in  our  public 
service  is  not  the  Oregon,  or  any  of  the  great  battleships  that  have 
written  a  new  chapter  in  the  history  of  naval  warfare,  that  can  hurl 
their  projectiles  six  miles  out  to  sea,  but  an  insignificant  ferryboat, 
named  the  "John  G.  Carlisle,"  which  plies  from  Ellis  Island  to 


AMERICAN  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  COLORED  PEOPLE  285 

the  Battery,  and  which  in  1903  brought  across  823,000  emigrants. 
To  meet  these  incoming  millions,  to  assimilate  them  into  our  social 
and  national  life,  is  a  tremendous  problem  for  the  Churches  of 
America. 

But  the  problem  to  which  I  wish  especially  to  address  myself  is 
the  attitude  of  American  Christianity  to  the  people  of  color  in  our 
country.  I  live  in  the  far  South.  I  live  in  what  is  known  as  the 
Black  Belt,  and  I  speak  therefore  from  a  lifelong  residence  and 
with  a  heart  of  love  for  my  brother  in  black.  I  am  proud  of  the 
record  of  my  own  Church.  Over  the  missions  established  in  the 
olden  time  a  cloud  of  glory  hovered  by  day  and  night.  Hundreds 
of  our  noblest  men  devoted  their  lives  and  energies  as  missionaries 
to  those  people  in  the  humble  cabins  on  the  great  plantations.  In 
the  city  of  Columbia,  S.  C,  on  a  modest  marble  shaft  marking 
the  resting  place  of  Bishop  William  Capers  is  this  inscription: 
"The  Founder  of  Missions  to  the  Slaves  of  Carolina."  With  his 
own  pen  he  wrote  a  catechism  to  be  used  for  their  instruction  in 
the  schools  and  in  their  cabins.  The  names  of  Bishop  Capers  and 
of  James  0.  Andrew  and  Lovick  Pierce  and  other  noble  spirits  will 
be  spoken  with  reverence  to  the  latest  generation,  because  of  the 
services  they  rendered  to  our  brethren  in  black  in  those  Southern 
parallels.  And  my  prayer  is  that  the  spirit  of  those  noble  men — 
and  as  I  call  their  names  I  instinctively  look  up  and  say,  "My 
Father,  my  Father,  the  chariot  of  Israel,  and  the  horsemen  thereof' 
— my  prayer  is  that  a  double  portion  of  their  spirit  may  abide  with 
their  sons  in  the  South.  I  believe  in  a  Gospel  that  is  perfectly 
adapted  to  human  needs  under  whatever  sky  or  color  of  skin.  I 
say  here,  because  I  have  said  it  at  home,  that  I  have  scant  respect 
for  a  so-called  Christianity  that  would  canonize  one  man  for  going 
to  Africa  and  ostracise  another  for  doing  the  same  work  here  at 
home.  As  Canon  Wescott  has  said,  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  is 
adapted  to  all  men,  to  the  whole  of  man,  to  all  races  and  to  all  time. 
Having  visited  the  various  mission  fields  of  the  world  three  times, 
China  and  Japan,  and  extended  my  observations  to  all  lands,  I  come 
home  with  stronger  faith  in  the  power  of  this  Gospel  to  uplift  the 
planet  and  save  the  nations. 

Will  you  allow  me,  brethren — as  I  know  my  brethren  from  my 
own  section,  and  especially  my  brethren  of  color,  will  do — to  make 
one  or  two  suggestions.  The  first  is  to  cease  wrangling  about  who 
was  most  responsible  for  the  institution  of  slavery.  In  an  acri- 
monious wrangle  over  history  we  may  neglect  present  duty;  for. 


286  CHURCH    FEDERATIOy 

after  all,  the  only  difference  between  you  and  us  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  was  the  difference  between  father  and  grandfather.  My 
father  was  a  slave  owner,  and  so  was  your  grandfather!  In  the 
second  place,  it  is  idle  for  us  to  speculate  about  the  future  of  our 
brethren.  Whether  or  not  they  will  reside  in  larger  number  in 
those  beautiful  parallels  where  I  live,  or  whether  they  shall  be 
scattered  over  the  great  territory  of  America,  or  as  some  advocate — 
an  idle  dream,  I  think — their  deportation,  I  know  not.  But  I 
know  this,  that  we  ought  to  do  immediate  duty,  and  immediate 
duty  is  their  Christianization  and  their  Christian  education. 

You  will  allow  me  modestly  to  suggest  again  that  it  is  not  wise 
for  non-residents  to  too  severely  criticise  the  white  neighbors  of 
the  black  brother.  You  make  it  too  hard  for  him  whose  condition 
is  already  tragical,  and  whose  condition  is  pathetic;  you  make  it 
too  hard  for  him.  I  see  the  President  has  said — and  therefore  it  is 
true,  for  I  believe  almost  anything  he  says — that  the  solution  of  the 
so-called  problem  is  with  the  South.  In  my  judgment  it  almost 
sinks  into  insignificance  in  comparison  with  the  problem  of  the 
congested  foreignism  in  the  great  cities  of  our  country,  for  these 
people  are  natives  of  our  soil,  they  love  our  country,  are  true  to 
its  institutions,  love  our  Lord,  believe  absolutely  our  Bible — ^no 
man  in  this  audience  ever  saw  a  negro  skeptic ;  though  they  some- 
times believe  too  much,  they  believe  absolutely — speaking  our 
language,  and  are  true  to  the  spirit  of  our  Protestant  religion.  T 
say  that  that  problem  sinks  into  insignificance  in  comparison  with 
the  problem  of  the  ignorant,  congested  foreignism  in  the  great  cities 
of  our  country. 

(The  Chairman  informs  me  that  I  have  only  two  minutes  more. 
And  I  have  only  just  started.)  Let  me  say  that  the  political  and 
social  phases  of  this  question  had  best  be  left  to  the  people  who 
alone  are  going  to  solve  them.  Now,  as  to  the  duty  of  the  Church. 
First,  we  should  so  inform  and  inspire  the  spirit  of  the  entire  nation 
— and  I  am  speaking  now  to  the  united  churches  of  America — 
aft  to  enthrone  and  stistain  the  majesty  of  the  law.  When  its  sanc- 
tions are  not  regarded  and  its  mandates  are  not  respected  the  very 
foundations  of  social  order  would  become  insecure.  I  give  it  as 
my  judgment  that  no  crime,  however  dreadful,  is  any  justification 
for  a  resort  to  lynch  law.  I  have  no  respect  for  the  mob  spirit,  even 
under  the  guise  of  religion,  that  would  smash  a  Kansas  saloon. 
Again,  we  should  assist  our  brethren  in  their  Christian  education. 
Ignorance  is  a  cure  for  nothing.     They  can  receive  this  instruction 


AMERICAN  CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  COLORED  PEOPLE  287 

as  well  as  we.  There  have  been  great  mistakes  made.  My  theory 
respecting  their  training  is  this:  The  rudiments  of  an  education 
for  all,  and  industrial  training  for  the  many,  and  a  collegiate  train- 
ing for  the  few  who  are  to  be  the  teachers  and  leaders  of  their 
people. 

There  are  several  other  points  that  I  did  wish  I  could  make, 
coming  from  my  heart  as  a  man  of  the  South  and  living  with  my 
neighbors,  and  loving  them,  as  they  well  know. 

My  appeal  to  the  Churches  of  America  is,  give  your  sympathy 
to  these  people.  They  are  not  going  to  be  much  else  but  Methodists 
and  Baptists,  but  you  had  better  help  them. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  visit  I  made  some  years  ago  to  the  city 
of  Jerusalem.  In  the  morning  I  worshipped  in  a  church  on  jMount 
Zion  and  received  the  Holy  Communion  from  the  hands  of  an  Epis- 
copal clergyman.  In  the  afternoon  several  ministers  and  myself 
concluded  that  we  would  walk  over  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  spend 
an  hour  in  the  village  of  Bethany.  We  passed  out  St.  Stephen's 
Gate  and  by  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  and  instead  of  taking  the 
Hosanna  road  to  the  right,  we  went  right  up  over  the  mountain 
pathway  which  the  Saviour  always  trod.  Wlien  we  were  about  half 
way  up  the  mountain  strange  sounds  fell  upon  my  ears;  the  deep 
toned  bells  of  a  church  began  to  ring  out  the  hour  of  Christian 
service,  and  then  the  tower  of  the  mosque  of  Omar  began  to  send 
out  the  weird  notes  of  the  muezzin,  and  then  the  martial  notes  of 
a  Turkish  bugle  in  the  barracks  joined  the  strange  medley,  and 
over  the  crest  of  the  hills  and  back  from  the  rocks  the  sounds 
seemed  to  be  echoed  into  a  perfect  harmony  and  fell  upon  my  ears 
as  entrancing  music.  I  instinctively  uncovered  in  that  presence 
and  said,  ''0  God,  so  may  it  be  in  some  sweet  Sabbath  afternoon  of 
the  coming  years.  The  Olivet  of  our  Christian  faith  may  resolve 
all  the  discordant  notes  of  earth  into  perfect  and  eternal  harmony." 


DISCUSSION 
The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.D. 


Federation  to  be  effective  in  foreign  missions,  needs  to  be 
international.  In  many  fields,  American  missions  labor  alongside 
of  British  or  Continental  missions,  and  American  Inter-Churcli 
Federation  does  not  fully  meet  such  a  situation.  An  International 
Inter-Church  Federation  is  required.  Federation  also  calls  for 
organization  through  which  it  may  act.  Without  that,  it  will 
lack  life  and  power. 

There  are  several  directions  in  which  the  foreign  missionary 
enterprise  can  be  helped  by  active,  organized  Federation.  First, 
Federation  will  emphasize  the  solidarity  of  Christianity.  In  travel- 
ing through  different  Mohammedan  lands  one  is  constantly  being 
impressed  with  the  solidarity  of  that  false  faith.  There  are  sects 
even  within  the  pale  of  Mohammedanism.  Nevertheless,  the  es- 
sential solidarity  of  Mohammedanism  asserts  itself  at  every  point 
of  contact  with  the  outside  world.  While  Christianity  possesses 
a  real,  though  spiritual,  solidarity,  and  while  I  believe  this  soli- 
darity is  measurably  felt  by  the  non-Christian  world,  yet  it  could 
become  a  mightier  power  if  there  were  some  federative  organiza- 
tion to  serve  as  the  visible  exponent,  as  the  conserver,  and  as  the 
executive  of  what  is  now  largely  intangible  and  often  unrecog- 
nized. 

Second.  Federation  would  make  it  possible  to  evolve  and 
carry  out  many  clearly  defined  missionary  policies.  Take,  as  an 
illustration,  the  policy  of  self-support.  It  can  be  seen  that  in- 
sistence on  such  a  policy  is  at  best  trying,  but  the  policy  is  en- 
tirely defeated  when  an  adjoining  mission,  in  its  eagerness  to 
secure  a  worker,  offers  a  salary  of  irresistible  attractiveness.  As 
with  this  policy,  so  in  many  other  instances  federation  would 
be  of  great  help. 

Third.  Federation  will  enable  us  to  conduct  a  strategic  mis- 
sionary campaign.  To  divide  and  assign  spheres  of  influence  and 
operation  would  be  a  first  blessing  of  Federation.  The  value  of 
this  is  evident  at  a  glance  and  has  been  repeatedly  emphasized. 
Beyond  this,  however,  there  is  abundant  room  for  strategy  in 
the  development  of  missionary  work,  and  especially  in  the  location 
of  missionary  institutions.    What  wonderful  gain  in  economy,  in 


REV.  WALTER  LAIDLAW,  Ph.D. 


REV.  EDWARD   TALLMADGE  ROOT 


REV.  ALFRED   WILLIAMS   ANTHONY,  D.D.  REV.  J.  WINTIIRUP  IIEC;EMAN,  Ph.D. 


WORLD-WIDE   EVANGELIZATION  289 

efficiency,  in  momentum,  is  secured  as  each  mission,  instead  of 
aiming  at  an  impossible  self-sufficiency,  strives  to  contribute  to 
the  Federation  of  Missions  along  those  lines  which  constitute  its 
own  special  talent  and  opportunity. 

Fourth.  I  should  like  to  emphasize  the  great  opportunity 
there  will  be  in  Federation  to  hasten  the  actual  accomplishment 
of  the  task  of  world-wide  evangelization.  As  yet  we  have  only 
played  at  missions.  Our  ideals  and  conceptions  have  been  at  fault. 
We  have  failed  to  grasp  the  one  great  purpose  of  our  existence 
and  of  all  of  our  organization.  This  aim  is  to  make  Christ  known 
to  the  world.  We  have  become  engrossed  in  other  worthy,  but 
stni  less  important,  occupations,  pertaining  largely  to  local  or 
denominational  interests.  Federation  ought  to  bring  us  to  a 
fuller  realization  of  the  great  aim,  the  supreme  purpose  of  our 
existence. 

We  have  also  been  remiss  in  the  performance  of  known  duty. 
Federation  ought  to  correct  this,  as  "iron  sharpeneth  iron,  so  a 
man  sharpeneth  the  countenance  of  his  friend."  We  have  hid 
behind  the  indefiniteness  of  our  responsibility.  Federation,  by  the 
assignment  of  territory,  will  remove  such  excuses  and  lay  at  the 
door  of  each  Church  the  responsibility  for  a  given  field. 

We  have  been  spasmodic,  unstatesmanlike  in  our  efforts  to 
evangelize  the  world,  neither  hoping  for  the  actual  accomplish- 
ment of  this  work,  nor  planning  our  work  on  a  scale  or  at  a  rate 
which  would  warrant  the  hope  of  a  fulfilment  of  our  commission. 
As  Mr.  Converse  has  said,  "When  business  men  apply  the  same 
energy  and  intelligence  to  the  work  of  the  kingdom  which  govern 
in  their  commercial  ventures,  then  the  proposition  to  evangelize 
the  world  in  this  generation  will  be  no  longer  a  dream." 

Federation  is  a  promise  that  this  energy  and  intelligence  are 
to  be  applied  to  the  Church's  great  work  of  evangelizing  the 
world. 


DISCUSSION 
The  Rev.  John  P.  Peters,  D.D. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren: 

I  see  this  is  put  down  as  a  "discussion"  on  the  topic  of  "A 
United  Church  and  Home  and  Foreign  Missions."  Now  I  feel  a 
little  embarrassed  in  entering  upon  a  discussion  where  I  agree  with 
ail  that  have  spoken,  and  when  I  take  up  the  topic  itself  and  seek 
to  make  out  of  it  a  discussion  I  feel  as  one  of  my  friends  said  he  did 
when,  having  been  invited  to  attend  a  debating  society  in  a  town  in 
Central  New  York,  he  found  the  society  soberly  discussing  the  ques- 
tion: "Is  it  the  egg  which  produces  the  chicken  or  the  chicken 
which  produces  the  egg?"  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  if 
the  Church  were  united  home  and  foreign  missions  would  receive 
an  impetus  greater  than  they  have  ever  received  before.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  every  Christian  body  were  doing 
its  share  in  home  and  foreign  missions  there  would  be  to-day  a 
united  Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

I  am  going  to  speak  to  you  of  small  matters  relatively,  of  the 
impression  made  upon  me  by  one  or  two  things  which  I  myself  saw 
some  three  years  ago  in  a  visit  to  Palestine.  We  were  in  one  of  the 
mountain  towns,  about  4,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  a  place 
where  missionaries  often  come  in  hot  weather  to  get  a  little  fresh 
air,  so  it  chanced  that  besides  the  local  missionaries,  Scotch  Presby- 
terian and  Church  of  England,  there  were  at  that  time  in  the  town 
two  Roman  Catholic  missionaries,  a  representative  of  the  American 
Presbyterian  mission,  and  one  or  two  representatives  of  independent 
missions.  We  were  entertained  in  the  house  of  the  Scotch  Presby- 
terian missionary.  As  we  came  together  we  realized  that  our 
gathering  was  more  than  a  mere  social  gathering.  We  could  not  all 
speak  the  same  language,  but  we  all  felt  the  unity  of  our  Chris- 
tianity. Those  things  which  at  home  separate  us  one  from  another 
had  vanished  here,  and  the  reality  of  Christian  unity  was  brought 
home  to  us  very  pointedly. 

That  was  one  experience.  I  have  instanced  it  because  before  we 
came  together  there  was  a  certain  prejudice  of  some  against  others, 
a  certain  feeling,  which  I  know  exists  oftentimes  even  in  the  mission 
field  that  our  union  in  Christ  was  far  off  and  unreal.  Fortunately 
there  were  in  that  town  those  who  as  a  result  of  experience  had 
outlived  old  anti-Christian  prejudices,  and  they  made  the  meeting 


FRATERNAL   SPIRIT   AMONG   MISSIONARIES  291 

possible.  The  Scotch  Presbyterian  missionary  who  resided  there 
told  me  that  one  of  his  best  friends,  and  the  principal  spiritual 
guide  of  the  entire  district,  was  one  of  the  Roman  Catholic  mission- 
aries present.  I  had  already  found  that  this  Roman  priest  did 
indeed  seem  to  be  imbued  in  a  singular  degree  with  the  missionary 
spirit  and  with  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Seventeen  years  ago  I  made  my  first  visit  to  Constantinople.  I 
confess  that  when  I  first  came  in  contact  with  the  missionaries  there 
it  was  with  a  certain  prejudice.  I  looked  on  with  considerable  dis- 
trust at  men  proselyting  from  the  ancient  Christian  Churches  of  the 
country  in  the  interests  of  a  sect.  I  had  not  been  long  among  them 
when  I  came  to  feel  that  they  and  I  were  brothers  in  every  regard, 
and  that  anything  I  could  do  to  further  their  work  I  would  do  with 
all  my  heart  and  soul.  I  found  that  because  of  them  and  their 
work  the  name  of  America  was  held  in  honor  throughout  Turkey, 
even  beyond  those  regions  where  the  work  of  the  American  mission- 
aries was  known.  The  reason  was  plain.  The  people  from  Amer- 
ica whom  the  natives  met  and  with  whom  exclusively  they  asso- 
ciated the  name  and  idea  of  America  were  most  highly  educated, 
cultured,  unselfish  and  full  of  spirituality.  Consequently  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  of  the  country  knew  Americans  from  their  best 
side  only.  I  found  that  when  I  supposed  I  was  where  no  American 
had  ever  gone,  the  honorable  name  and  reputation  of  America  had 
preceded  me,  thanks  to  the  grand  work  done  by  the  American  mis- 
sionaries. Further,  I  found  that  the  missionaries  themselves,  so 
far  from  being  sectarian,  had  come  to  realize  in  a  very  high  degree 
that  the  unity  of  all  Christians  was  the  right  thing.  They  were 
preaching  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  not  proselyting  for  a  sect,  and  their 
preaching  and  teaching  were  actually  reforming  the  ancient 
Churches  from  within.  I  found  these  missionaries  so  broadminded 
and  spiritual  that  I  was  constantly  learning  from  them.  That  was 
the  experience  which  I  had  first  ai  Constantinople,  and  it  was  re- 
peated wherever  I  went  among  missionaries  until  I  came  to  feel 
that  their  catholicity  and  spirituality  were  due  to  the  fact  that 
these  men  were  doing  missionary  work,  and  that  through  that  mis- 
sionary work  the  realities  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  had  come 
home  to  them. 

I  do  not  mean  to  discredit  honest  doctrinal  differences,  but  I 
do  mean  to  say  that  when  one  comes  in  contact  with  the  real  work 
of  Christ  in  the  world  he  seems  to  rise  above  those  details  which 
divide  us  into  sects  at  home.     I  found  that  wonderfully  expressed 


292  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

on  one  occasion  when  I  was  out  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan. 
We  were  not  able  to  get  any  water  to  drink.  The  people  were  ask- 
ing exorbitant  prices  for  water,  until  there  came  to  my  rescue  a 
Eoman  Catholic  missionary,  who  had  gone  there  and  settled  among 
those  savage  people  in  order  to  show  them  what  civilization  meant. 
I  stayed  a  while  with  him  and  watched  his  work  among  them,  and 
when  Sunday  came  I  said  to  him :  "My  brother,  if  when  you  hold 
your  services  I  stay,  will  it  not  injure  your  work?  Is  there  any 
way  in  which  you  can  admit  me  to  mass  ?  I  will  do  anything  I  can 
to  show  them  that  our  Christianity  is  one."  He  put  his  arms 
around  my  neck  and  said :  "My  brother,  in  America  or  in  Europe 
I  suppose  we  should  be  conscious  of  a  wide  difference  between  us, 
but  here,  when  I  see  this  degradation  around  me,  this  misery,  this 
ignorance,  and  realize  what  we  are  fighting  against,  I  know  no  dif- 
ference.    You  and  I  are  one." 

That  is  the  way  foreign  missions  are  affecting  the  Church,  and 
to  a  large  extent  the  same  is  true  of  our  home  missions  here  in  this 
city,  for  instance. 

My  time  is  up.  I  cannot  draw  my  conclusions  and  make  my 
point.     You  must  do  that  for  me. 


DISCUSSION 
The  Rev.  William  Walton  Clark 


Eight  stirring  addresses  from  as  many  different  denominations 
on  one  subject  consecutively  is  enough  to  tax  the  patience  of  any 
audience,  but  looking  into  your  cheerful  faces  now  I  find  that 
you  have  arrived  at  that  point  of  which  Dr.  Buckley  spoke  yester- 
day afternoon,  where  you  have  "got  to  your  second  wind,"  and 
I  presume  feel  something  like  the  Irishman  who  was  sentenced 
to  death  and  the  judge  gave  him  the  option  of  choosing  between 
hanging  or  electrocution,  and  he  said,  "I'll  take  elocution." 

The  president  of  our  board  was  to  have  addressed  you,  but 
unfortunately  he  is  ill  and  he  has  just  asked  me  to  take  his 
place.  We  represent  the  Keformed  Church  in  America.  One  of 
our  ministers  two  months  ago  was  in  England  attending  the 
Torry-Alexander  meetings,  and  just  before  the  session  Dr.  Torry 


COMITY    IN    MISSIONARY    WORK  293 

introduced  him  as  "a  reformed  minister  from  the  United  States/' 
and  one  of  the  brethren  whispered  to  the  doctor  and  said,  "What, 
was  he — a  hard  drinker?"  But  when  the  time  came  for  the  ad- 
dresses in  the  great  auditorium,  Dr.  Torry  thought  he  would  not 
make  that  mistake  again  and  so  he  said,  "I  have  great  pleasure  in 
introducing  Eev.  Dr.  Martin  from  the  United  States.  He  be- 
longs to  the  same  church  that  President  Roosevelt  belongs  to." 
So  that  made  him  all  right. 

You  know,  that  many  years  ago  the  Dutch  took  Holland,  and 
then  they  came  over  here  and  took  the  Island  of  New  Amsterdam. 
Ours,  then,  was  the  first  church  here,  the  old  stone  church  in  the 
fort.  Then  followed  other  churches  of  ours,  and  so  we  established 
federation  and  church  comity  at  the  beginning,  and  we  would 
have  had  the  whole  town  now  if  you  hadn't  all  come  in  and 
interfered  with  our  plans.  We  want  to  make  an  appeal  for 
denominational  comity  and  federation  along  the  lines  of  home 
missions,  not  only  in  the  West,  but  in  the  East.  The  great  thought 
before  us  is  cooperation  and  not  competition.  We  do  not  mean 
to  take  up  your  time  in  emphasizing  the  fact  that  out  West  there 
are  often  four  steeples  in  a  village  where  there  ought  to  be  one, 
and  six  where  there  might  be  two.  Out  in  Oklahoma  there  was 
a  town  where  we  entered  and  built  a  church,  and  then  three  or 
four  other  denominations  came  in,  and  we  found  that  they  were 
not  sustaining  us  there,  and  so  we  decided  to  step  aside.  Then 
one  day  the  business  men  of  the  town  came  together  and  sent 
word  to  our  board  in  New  York,  asking  us  to  send  our  man  back, 
that  they  would  close  up  their  other  enterprises  and  would  sus- 
tain our  church.  We  sent  the  man  back.  At  the  next  communion 
there  were  thirty  people  who  took  their  letters  out  of  their  trunks 
and  brought  them  into  the  church,  and  others  united  with  the 
church  on  confession  of  faith,  and  now  they  are  building  a  larger 
church.  That  is  the  kind  of  spirit  that  we  want  to  see  mani- 
fested. In  other  fields  we  have  withdrawn  when  we  have  found 
the  ground  occupied. 

There  is  a  town  in  Minnesota  which  had  three  church  edifices, 
but  none  of  them  had  a  minister.  It  was  rather  a  tough  place, 
and  clergymen  did  not  want  to  go  there;  but  we  had  a  brave 
man  in  Michigan  who  said  he  would  go  there  and  open  the 
church.  Most  of  the  people  in  the  town  were  Germans,  and  there- 
were  some  Hollanders.  So  he  preached  in  German  in  the  morn- 
ing, in  Holland-Dutch  in  the  afternoon  and  in  English  at  night. 


294  CHURCH    FEDERATIO^N 

The  people  liked  the  man  and  they  crowded  the  large  German 
church.  Many  denominations  united  in  this  one  church.  I 
remember  I  was  up  there  one  Wednesday  night  when  the  building 
was  crowded,  and  we  had  a  tri-lingual  service.  The  minister 
gave  out  the  hymn  in  German,  read  the  Scripture  in  Holland  and 
I  made  the  address  in  English.  We  got  along  nicely  and  every- 
body looked  happy.  Then  I  said  to  him,  "Let  us  see  if  we  can- 
not have  a  tri-lingual  Doxology."  He  said,  "All  right,  we  will  try 
it."  The  Germans  were  on  the  right  side  and  the  Hollanders  on 
the  left  side,  while  the  English  were  in  the  middle.  The  minister 
repeated  the  Doxology  in  all  three  languages  and  said,  "Brethren, 
now  sing  as  you  never  sang  before;  I  want  you  to  do  your  level 
best."  Then,  turning  to  the  organist,  he  said,  "Pull  out  all  the 
stops  and  play  in  all  three  different  languages."  That  was  done 
and  the  Doxology  began.  The  English  singers  were  drowned 
out;  the  Germans  sang  with  a  great  volume  of  sound,  as  Germans 
can;  but  the  Hollanders,  as  j^ou  know,  are  very  fond  of  a  long 
meter,  and  the  Doxology  is  the  longest  kind  of  a  long  meter, 
and  there  was  no  use  of  the  Germans  beginning  the  second  line 
until  the  Hollanders  had  finished  the  first — everything  comes  to 
him  who  waits — and  we  finally  got  there,  and  lifted  off  the  roof 
to  a  *Traise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow."  It  was  grand; 
for  we  saw  a  united  church,  composed  of  several  denominations 
and  several  nationalities,  served  by  one  faithful  man — a  practical 
illustration  of  denominational  comity,  true  church  federation,  and 
it  is  for  this  that  this  Convention  stands. 


PRESENT    PRACTICAL    WORKINGS    OF 
FEDERATION 


OPENING     ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  David  H.  Bauslin,  D.D. 


Brethren  of  the  Conference: 

If  a  man  who  has  made  a  very  inadequate  induction  into  the 
facts  pertaining  to  the  case  were  asked.  What  is  the  primary  and 
fundamental  need  of  our  country  at  this  hour  ?  I  think  that  there 
could  be  but  one  response — that  the  primary  and  fundamental 
need  of  our  country  is  salvation.  Before  leaving  this  country,  not 
a  great  while  ago,  Dr.  Campbell  Morgan,  who,  in  my  judgment, 
represents  what  is  best  in  the  preaching  in  our  language  in  this 
generation,  said  that  he  had  come  to  have  but  very  little  confi- 
dence in  methods  of  reform  that  proposed  to  proceed  upon  lines 
outside  of  and  separate  from  the  organized  Christian  Church. 
This  testimony  is  true  and  faithful.  The  primary  need  of  our 
country,  my  friends,  is  salvation,  and  the  impulses  of  both  re- 
ligion and  patriotism  should  move  us  to  accord  to  every  cause  and 
force  that  will  oifer  that  salvation  permanently  and  practically, 
surely  and  adequately,  our  ardent  and  generous  support  in  its 
administration.  I  take  it  that  it  is  this  purpose  primarily  that 
has  called  us  together  as  the  representatives  of  the  evangelical 
churches  of  this  country  at  this  time  and  place. 

Our  country,  I  say,  needs  salvation.  It  needs  to  be  saved  from 
that  crude  infidelity  that  has  been  associated  in  a  variety  of  forms 
with  the  vulgar  names  of  the  French  Voltaire  and  the  American 
Thomas  Paine,  to  whom  nothing  at  all  was  sacred.  Our  country, 
too,  needs  to  be  saved  from  the  false  lights  of  what  seems  to  me 
to  be  a  miasmatic  rationalism,  which  would  diminish  and  take 
away  the  forces  of  evangelical  Christianity  from  our  Churches  and 
country.  Our  country  likewise  needs  salvation  from  that  utili- 
tarian expediency  which  it  is  thought  to  substitute  in  our  country 
for  a  sound  and  a  comprehensive  and  a  sanely  constructed  system 
of  morality.  Our  country  also  needs  to  be  saved  from  godless  or- 
ganizations and  from  the  dreadful  havoc  of  that  unregulated  in- 
dividualism that  prevails  so  largely  in  our  borders.  It  needs 
also  to  be  saved  from  that  commercialism  and  that  mammonism 
which  dominate  so  much  of  the  life  of  our  country  at  this  hour, 
and  which  are  so  regretfully  prevalent  in  our  borders,  both  of 
which  serve  to  corrupt  both  conscience  and  intellect,  as  well  as  to 
depress  human  affection.    We  need  likewise  in  our  country,  my 


298  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

friends,  to  be  saved  from  the  discordant  note  of  that  socialism 
which,  whether  it  prevails  on  the  prairies  west  of  the  Mississippi 
or  in  the  great  centres  of  population  east  of  the  Alleghanies,  is 
the  same  destructive  force  and  the  same  discordant  note  in  our 
national  life.  We  need  to  be  saved  from  that  anarchism  which 
is  preached  sometimes  in  the  mining  camps  upon  the  frontier 
and  sometimes  in  socialistic  halls  in  the  eastern  sections  of  our 
country.  I  say  that  the  primary  need  of  our  coimtry  at  this  hour 
is  salvation,  a  salvation  that  is  permanent  and  abiding,  and  it  is 
that  which  is  offered  through  the  administration  of  the  means 
of  grace  in  the  Christian  Churches  represented  in  this  body. 

We  are  here  this  afternoon,  my  friends,  to  consider  some  of 
the  worked  out  results  and  some  ocf  the  manifest  effects  of  united 
work  along  these  lines  of  offering  to  the  country  an  adequate, 
a  safe  and  permanent  salvation.  And  permit  me  to  say  that  the 
country  needs  not  a  bogus  salvation,  but  a  real  redemption  from 
the  forces  which  decimate  our  life.  Wherever  those  forces  mani- 
fest themselves  dangerously  in  our  extensive  domain — and  to 
many  "of  them  our  attention  has  already  been  directed  in  the 
meetings  of  this  Conference,  and  our  attention  will  be  directed 
subsequently  to  some  others  of  them — wherever  they  are  there  is 
our  point  of  contact  as  the  representatives  of  the  Christian 
Churches  of  this  country.  There  is  our  enemy,  and  it  is  our  duty 
to  hang  upon  the  flanks  of  that  enemy,  to  fire  from  every  bush 
and  every  rock  until  the  forces  of  evil  are  chased  permanently 
from  the  field  and  the  forces  of  righteousness  represented  in  this 
Conference  are  enthroned  in  the  life  of  this  great  country,  which 
we  love  so  dearly  and  cherish  so  warmly.  Unless  this  be  the  case, 
and  unless  a  permanent  salvation  is  offered  to  the  country,  such 
a?  comes  through  the  ministration  of  the  evangeUcal  Churches, 
then,  my  friends,  certainly  we  shall  find  that  at  last,  like  the 
Hebrew  athlete,  strong  and  blind,  our  strength  shall  have  slipped 
through  our  hands  and  we  shall  be  left  powerless,  possibly  even 
grinding  in  the  mills  of  the  Philistines. 

We  are  to  have  presented  to  us  in  the  topics  of  this  afternoon 
some  of  the  worked  out  results  along  the  lines  of  cooperation 
being  discussed  in  this  Convention,  the  consideration  of  which  has 
called  us  together  at  this  time,  and  it  is  my  pleasure  to  introduce 
to  you  the  speakers,  who  shall  come  to  you  with  somewhat  of  tlie 
authority  of  specialists  upon  this  important  topic  which  is  to 
claim  our  consideration  at  this  hour. 


TEN    YEARS'    FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    NEW 
YORK  CITY 


The  Rev.  Walter  Laidlaw,  Ph.D. 


I  am  asked,  Mr.  Chairman,  to  compress  into  twenty  minutes 
the  history  of  ten  years — a  decade  in  which  the  following  things 
have  been  done: 

Twelve  churches  of  six  communions  located  through  interde- 
nominational investigation  and  federative  recommendation;  im- 
proved housing  of  God's  children  in  the  tenements  forwarded;  a 
people's  park  put  on  the  map,  perfectly  appointed,  by  the  combined 
petition  of  the  Christian  churches,  Protestant  and  Catholic,  of  the 
West  Side's  densest  neighborhood;  summer  playgrounds  for  chil- 
dren made  a  part  of  the  municipality's  budget  and  activities;  half 
a  dozen  kindergartens  for  various  races  opened  in  churches  and 
elsewhere;  two  vigorous  settlements,  applying  the  social  Gospel  of 
Jesus,  put  into  operation;  the  crippled  children  of  the  city  given 
attention  by  both  Christians  and  Jews;  a  cooperative  parish  sys- 
tem, for  neighborhood  visitation,  vigilance  and  ministry,  developed, 
tested,  and  now  about  to  be  applied  to  a  borough  with  over  one 
million  people;  special  summer  work  for  children,  involving  relig- 
ious and  moral  instruction,  opened  in  the  churches  of  six  denomi- 
nations, at  fourteen  centres,  and  so  tested  that  in  succeeding  years 
it  will  be  carried  on  on  a  much  wider  scale;  and,  as  a  result  of  the 
planning  of  this  work  and  the  working  of  these  plans,  the  formation 
of  similar  federations  in  other  American  cities ;  and  the  institution 
of  a  national  committee  to  forward  federative  organization  all  over 
the  land. 

I  am  asked,  Mr.  Chairman  and  brethren,  to  tell  this  story  in 
one-third  of  an  hour.  Brevity  is  the  soul  of  wit  in  some  things,  but 
in  the  writing  of  history  it  may  be  a  source  of  woe  and  wrong. 

Even  at  the  risk  of  truncating  my  already  limited  time,  I  wish 
to  bear  testimony  to  the  value  of  the  work  of  the  Evangeli- 
cal Alliance  in  the  United  States,  in  bringing  to  pass  increasing 
cooperative  conviction  and  action  in  our  country.  Dr.  Josiah 
Strong  has  been  a  prince  of  power  in  diagnosing  American  condi- 
tions, and  summoning  the  Churches  of  our  country  to  rally  round 
the  banner  of  a  common  service  to  their  communities.     But  for  an 

299 


300  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

incident  in  the  history  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  in  1873,  for 
which  neither  he  nor  any  of  the  chief  authorities  of  the  Alliance 
was  responsible,  the  work  of  the  Alliance  might  have  had  a  larger 
actual  issue.  The  essence  of  that  incident  was  the  mistake  of  not 
limiting  the  concern  of  the  Alliance  to  unity  in  work  alone. 

The  Chickering  Hall  Conference  of  1888,  though  it  did  not 
issue  in  permanent  Federation  in  this  city,  imdoubtedly  had  more 
to  do  with  the  creation  of  the  present  City  Federation  than  any 
other  movement  mentioned  in  this  presence.  The  reason  why  its 
plans  failed  was  the  lack  of  preliminary  investigation  to  discover 
whether  the  Oswego  method  of  cooperation,  developed  by  the  late 
Dr.  Frank  Russell,  was  adapted  to  the  facts  of  this  city.  Oswego 
is  an  American  city,  comparatively;  its  percentage  of  Protestants 
high ;  its  people  live  in  the  town  the  year  round  to  a  larger  extent 
than  New  Yorkers;  and  every  one  of  these  conditions  was  against 
the  success  of  the  Oswego  plan  of  visitation  in  New  York. 

But  the  seed  sown  by  the  Chickering  Hall  Conference  was  to 
bring  forth  from  honest  hearts  thirty,  sixty  and  an  hundred  fold. 

Even  before  the  Chickering  Hall  Conference  was  held,  Mr. 
Robert  Graham,  Secretary  of  the  Church  Temperance  Society,  had 
made  a  careful  study  of  a  section  of  New  York,  and  put  into  appo- 
sition, in  a  pamphlet  entitled  ''New  York  City  and  Its  Masters," 
printed  in  1887,  the  comparative  number  of  uplifting  and  down- 
pulling  agencies  in  a  large  section  of  the  city.  Following  this,  in 
1894,  Mr.  Graham  published  a  second  pamphlet,  based  on  materials 
which  had  been  accumulated  through  the  generous  support  of  the 
Right  Rev.  Henry  Y.  Satterlee,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  Washington,  then 
rector  of  Calvary  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  This  pamphlet 
was  entitled  "Social  Statistics  of  a  City  Parish,"  and  dealt,  in  the 
main,  with  "St.  Augustine's  Cure,"  on  the  Lower  East  Side. 

In  this  investigation  a  great  deal  of  the  later  work  of  the  Feder- 
ation of  Churches  and  Christian  Organizations  in  New  York  City 
was  prophesied.  Mr.  Robert  Graham,  in  fact,  became  the  chairman 
of  the  Federation's  Conmiittee  on  Investigation  in  this  city,  and 
remains  a  member  to  this  day. 

In  June,  1894,  Dr.  Devins  formed  the  "Federation  of  East  Side 
Workers"  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  philanthropic  work  south  of 
Fourteenth  street  and  east  of  Broadway,  "by  a  careful  study  of  the 
needs  of  the  people  and  by  organized  cooperation." 

The  Federation  of  Churches,  in  its  very  first  publication,  used 
many  of  the  maps  issued  by  Mr.  Graham  in  1887,  and  the  Feder- 


FEDERATIVE    WORK   IN    NEW   YORK    CITY  301 

ation  of  Churches  was  independently  projected  in  the  very  same 
year  as  the  Federation  of  East  Side  Workers. 

At  the  autumn  meeting  of  the  Alumni  Club  of  Union  Seminary 
Dr.  J.  Winthrop  Hegeman  started  a  Federation,  including 
Churches,  as  such,  in  its  membership,  a  plan  now  so  developed  that, 
while  each  Church  and  Christian  organization  may  have  three  people 
present  at  a  Federation  meeting,  to  take  part  in  debate,  each  Church 
or  Christian  organization  has  only  one  vote. 

The  minutes  of  the  Union  Seminary  Alumni  Club,  November 
18,  1894,  contain  the  following  record : 

llth  Private  meeting  of  Club— 82  members  and  guests  present 

Resolutions  presented  by  J.  W.  Hegeman: 

''Resolved,  1.  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  consider  the  prac- 
ticability of  organizing  a  federate  council  of  the  Churches  of  New  York 
City  for  the  purpose  of  so  applying  the  Gospel  to  every  human  need, 
and  of  so  readjusting  and  directing  its  agencies,  that  every  family  in 
the  destitute  parts  of  our  city  shall  be  reached. 

"2.  That  this  committee  consist  of  one  member  from  each  of  the 
denominations  represented  in  this  Club. 

"3.    The  committee  be  instructed  to  report  as  soon  as  possible." 

The  resolutions  were  adopted. 

This  committee,  after  its  actual  appointment,  took  counsel  with 
Dr.  Devins  and  several  others,  but  that  its  work  lay  genetically 
close  to  the  efforts  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  is  shown  by  the 
presence  of  the  name  of  Dr.  Frank  Eussell  among  its  members. 

Let  me  now  hasten  to  speak  of  the  motives,  membership,  man- 
agement, methods,  results,  and  the  to-morrow  of  the  Federation  of 
Churches  and  Christian  Organizations  in  New  York  City. 

New  York  is  to  be  the  largest  urban  centre  of  the  world  within 
fifteen  years.  There  will  be,  by  1930,  over  eight  million  people 
within  nineteen  miles  of  its  City  Hall.  In  the  ten  years  1890  to 
1900  the  city  added  more  population  than  the  whole  population  of 
London  in  1801.  People  with  their  eyes  open  saw  this  increase 
in  progress  in  the  decade  when  the  Federation  was  started.  They 
saw  another  thing:  that  New  York  proportionately  had  more  for- 
eigners than  any  other  large  American  city;  whereas  from  1860 
to  1890  the  interior  cities  of  the  country  were  proportionately  more 
foreign  than  New  York  or  Boston.  By  1900  New  York's  foreign- 
bom  had  grown  to  exceed  all  the  foreigners  of  Boston,  Baltimore, 
Philadelphia,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  put  together,  and  New  York 


302  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

at  the  same  time  was  in  percentage  more  foreign  than  any  of  them. 
A  composite  portrait  of  New  York  in  1900  shows  that  people  of 
German  and  Irish  parentage  make  up  two-iifths  of  its  population; 
that  German-derived  people  outnumber  the  native  whites  bom  of 
native  parentage;  and  that  the  Eussians,  Austro-Hungarians  and 
Italians  almost  equalled  the  population  of  pure  American  descent. 
The  immigration  from  Russia  at  the  port  of  New  York,  1900-1905, 
has  been  over  700,000,  and  from  Italy  nearly  900,000. 

Only  one  of  New  York's  seventy-seven  (77)  political  subdivisions 
is  under  20  per  cent,  foreign.  There  is  one  political  subdivision  67 
per  cent,  foreign  born,  and  in  that  district  there  are  not  two  people 
in  a  hundred  of  pure  American  birth  and  parentage.  It  has  72,135 
people. 

Maps  showing  the  density  of  population  and  percentage  of 
foreigners  in  the  population  prove  that  the  foreign  and  congested 
districts  are  identical.  The  cit/s  densest  district  has  735  people 
on  each  of  its  98  acres.  People  the  whole  area  of  Greater  New 
York  as  densely,  and  it  would  have  over  150,000,000  population. 
People  all  of  Greater  New  York  as  densely  as  the  Lower  East  Side, 
383  to  the  acre,  and  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  United 
States,  and  half  the  Filipinos,  could  be  held  within  the  legal  limits 
of  the  city. 

The  Eussian  districts  of  the  city  are  the  most  foreign  and  the 
most  dense.  Blame  not  the  brethren  of  our  Lord  that  they  are 
herded  together.  The  un-Christian  conduct  of  the  Christian  over- 
seers in  Dutch  days  compelled  them  to  live  together  as  early  as  the 
second  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  there  are  not  houses 
enough  in  New  York  to-day  to  hold  its  people  comfortably. 

Not  until  the  city  taxes  every  unimproved  square  foot  of  land 
up  to  its  market  selling  values,  highest  notch,  will  the  unoccupied 
spaces  within  our  limits  be  covered  with  roof -trees  for  the  children 
of  God,  whose  primary  wants  are  shelter,  raiment  and  food. 

The  sources  of  American  immigration,  1890-1900,  were  coun- 
tries different  from  those  which  gave  our  nation  its  imported  Chris- 
tian creeds  and  communions.  New  York  in  1900  held  12,000  less 
people  from  Northern  Europe  than  in  1890,  while  from  Italy, 
Austro-Hungary,  Eussia,  Turkey  and  Greece  it  had  and  held 
303,000  more. 

There  are  6,300  people  per  Protestant  church  on  this  island 
to-day,  and  3,600  per  church  in  Brooklyn.  In  1895  the  problem 
before  us  was  to  produce  a  plan  for  the  effective  cooperation  of 


FEDERATIVE    WORK   IN    NEW   YORK    CITY  303 

these  churches.  We  suspected  at  the  outset  that  there  were  thou- 
sands of  churchless  Protestants  in  our  city;  we  did  not  know  till 
last  year  that  there  are  over  a  million.  We  realized  the  necessity- 
of  preserving  faith  in  the  living  God  in  every  Jewish  heart,  for 
the  issues  in  this  commercial  city  are  between  God  and  Mammon 
as  much  as  between  bare  atheism  and  Christianity,  or  between  Uni- 
tarianism  and  Trinitarianism. 

The  membership  of  our  Federation  has  from  the  first  been 
open  to  all  churches  and  organizations  working  for  Christian  pur- 
poses. The  Children's  Aid  Society,  for  instance,  was  one  of  we 
"Christian  Workers"  invited  into  membersliip.  Manifestly  we 
could  not  ask  what  its  creed  was,  for  it  had,  and  has,  none,  thoiish 
it  has,  at  the  heart  of  its  work,  Christ's  code  of  child-saving :  "Take 
heed  that  ye  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones."  But  if  it  sent  a 
Unitarian  to  represent  it,  could  we  refuse  him?  Manifestly  a 
Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  must  be  formed  on 
the  broad  foundation  of  the  realization  of  Christ's  purposes. 

On  the  other  liand,  we  have  declined  to  exclude  the  word  "Chris- 
tian" from  our  title,  believing,  without  the  peradventure  of  a  doub':. 
that  He  in  whose  name  the  annals  of  the  world  are  recorded  will  h 
the  centre  and  the  splendor,  in  His  matchless  and  Divine  manhood, 
of  the  Golden  Age  of  the  world. 

The  management  of  our  Federation  at  first  was  denominational : 
a  clergyman  and  la^Tnan  from  each  leading  communion  to  comprise 
a  Council.  The  scheme  had  the  beauty  of  a  golden  cable,  but  the 
strength  only  of  a  rope  of  sand.  The  Council  often  adjourned  for 
lack  of  a  quorum  of  five,  and  the  Executive  Committee  had  to 
change  the  by-laws  and  become  themselves  members  of  it,  to  the 
end  of  doing  actual  Federation  business. 

On  the  advice  of  Mr.  William  E.  Dodge,  we  did  away,  in  1901, 
altogether,  with  direct  denominational  representation.  The  Feder- 
ation was  then  incorporated,  and  it  is  controlled  by  a  Board  of 
Directors  affiliated  with  Churches  and  Christian  organizations  in 
the  actual  membership,  each  such  Church  and  Christian  organization 
having  one  vote.  Mr.  Dodge  possessed  the  spirit  of  Emerson  when 
he  said :  "Of  no  use  are  the  men  who  study  to  do  exactly  as  was 
done  before,  who  can  never  understand  that  to-day  is  a  new  day." 
Though  President  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  he  hailed  and 
heartened  the  work  which  ascertains  the  facts  of  neighborhoods,  pre- 
scribes after  diagnosis,  not  before,  and  calls  into  cooperation  all 
Churches   and  all  organizations  loving  men  and  serving  Christ 


304  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

through  serving  men.  The  banner  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  was 
a  com  men  belief.  Mr.  Dodge  frequently  told  your  speaker  that 
the  banner  of  Federation  should  be  a  common  service. 

See  illustration  H,  page  20,  of  "Federation,"  November,  1905, 
presented  to  each  member  of  this  Conference,  for  the  form  we  use 
in  getting  the  facts  of  neighborhoods.  It  includes  housing,  edu- 
cational and  economic  conditions.  When  we  started,  New  York 
had  no  Tenement  House  Department,  and  the  spirit  of  our  work 
has  from  the  first  been  in  sympathy  with  the  prayer  for  the  city  last 
night  put  forth  at  the  Federation  of  Church  Clubs  of  the  Diocese 
of  New  York. 

"Almighty  God,  who  didst  lead  our  fathers  to  this  goodly  place, 
and  hast  opened  to  us  the  gate  of  a  wide  and  teeming  land,  Be  Thou 
our  sovereign  Lord  and  Euler;  Enable  every  race  which  Thou 
hast  dravm  hither  by  Thy  guiding  spirit  to  bring  its  own  costly  gift 
to  our  common  life :  Scourge  as  with  whips  of  cords  all  vices  from 
among  us ;  Grant  us  wisdom  to  make  the  homes  in  which  Thy  people 
dwell  abodes  of  comfort :  Give  us  prudence  to  purge  out  of  this  city 
all  poison  of  disease,  and  make  our  people  strong :  Enable  us  so  to 
adorn  every  neighborhood  that  it  shall  gladden  our  eyes  with  the 
vision  of  beauty :  Send  into  our  streets  the  spirit  of  gentleness  and 
purity :  Make  our  temples  to  be  altars  of  Thy  presence :  And  so  exalt 
and  transfigure  our  civic  life  that  all  who  behold  it  shall  say.  Surely 
this  is  a  queen  among  the  cities  of  the  earth :  All  of  which  we  ask 
in  His  name  who  is  the  righteous  King;  Thy  Son,  our  Saviour, 
Jesus  Christ.     Amen." 

We  study  and  tabulate  housing  conditions,  utilizing  electricity. 
RESULTS. 

The  result  of  cooperative  house-to-house  visitation  in  a  region 
where  the  cooperative  parish  system  has  been  actually  worked  for 
six  years  is  the  reduction  of  the  churchless  from  48  to  28  per  cent. 
Let  no  one  say  to  you  that,  if  you  seek  the  people  and  serve  the 
people,  you  cannot  save  the  people  to  the  habit  of  worship,  the  most 
socializing  of  all  habitudes,  says  Lowell. 

*Illustration  M  is  a  Lutheran  Church,  put  into  a  neighborhood 
of  60,000,  where,  before  our  investigation,  there  was  no  Protestant 
church. 


*The  speaker  used  an  illustrated  sheet,  copies  of  which  were  phiced 
in  the  hands  of  the  delegates,  in  putting  the  visible  results  of  the  work 
before  the  Conference.  This  sheet  and  an  illustrated  pamphlet,  "Ten 
Years'  Federation,"  may  be  secured  from  the  speaker,  at  11  Broadway, 
New  York. 


REV.     WILLIAM     I.     HAVEN,     D.D.  REV.    JAMES    B.    RODGERS,    D.D. 


REV.    BISHOP    J.    M.    THUBUKX,    D.D.,  LL.D 


REV.    J.    C.    GARRITT,    D.D. 


FEDERATIVE    WORK   IN    NEW   YORK    CITY  306 

N  is  the  magnificent  plant  built  by  one  whose  beneficence  ie  not 
always  advertised,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  for  the  work  of  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Baptist  Church. 

Illustration  0  shows  a  group  of  churches  and  charities,  among 
them  a  work  for  crippled  children,  resulting  from  our  first  neigh- 
borhood study.     For  detail  see  publication. 

Illustration  P  shows  general  results  from  the  second  neighbor- 
hood investigation — churches,  model  tenements,  kindergartens,  etc. 

Q  shows  a  church  established  in  Brooklyn  (Lutheran),  shown 
necessary  for  German-speaking  English,  and  assisted  by  ex-Mayor 
Sehieren. 

K  shows  the  Church  of  the  Archangel,  Protestant  Episcopal,  a 
success  in  six  weeks,  in  a  community  where  Protestant  Episcopal 
work  had  practically  closed. 

S  and  T  are  churches  for  negroes,  located  through  our  work,  one 
of  them  a  Moravian  Church  which  cares  for  West  Indian  negroes. 

U  is  the  Tuskegee,  a  model  tenement  for  negroes,  built  to  atone 
for  the  social  injustice  discovered  and  declared  in  our  second  pub- 
lication; the  success  of  this  has  led  Mr.  Henry  Phipps  to  spend 
$250,000  in  the  same  neighborhood  for  the  same  race. 

V  shows  the  big  block  on  the  West  Side  whose  discovery  was  a 
potent  cause  in  the  formation  of  a  Tenement  House  Department  for 
the  city.  It  is  not  far  from  this  building,  Sixty-first  to  Sixty- 
second  street.  Tenth  to  Eleventh  avenue.  It  has  3,800  people,  on 
a  piece  of  ground  800  by  200  feeet.  None  of  its  dwellings  contra- 
vened the  Building  Law  at  the  time  of  their  erection.  House 
people  throughout  New  York's  whole  area  densely,  and  we  should 
have  at  least  125,000,000  people  in  the  city.  The  law  has  been 
changed,  and  the  area  of  a  block  permitted  to  be  covered  by  a 
building  has  been  reduced. 

W  is  a  settlement  resulting  from  our  first  study,  with  over 
seventy  clubs,  applying  the  social  gospel,  and  serving  as  an  insti- 
tutional annex  to  the  churches  of  the  neighborhood. 

X  is  the  park  petitioned  for  in  1897  over  the  joint  signatures 
of  Eoman  Catholic  and  Protestant  pastors  in  the  Fifteenth  and 
Seventeenth  Assembly  Districts,  in  the  following  language: 

"The  undersigned,  the  pastors  of  the  churches,  and  workers  in 
charities  on  the  West  Side  of  the  city,  in  the  Fifteenth,  Seventeenth 
and  Nineteenth  Assembly  Districts,  respectfully  petition  for  the 
location  of  a  park  on  the  Hudson  Kiver  (between  Fifty-second  and 
Fifty-fourth  streets),  and  herewith  submit  statistics  justifying  the 


306  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

claims  of  this  part  of  the  city's  population  upon  your  consideration ; 
and  your  petitioners,  who  sign  on  their  personal  behalf,  and  on 
behalf  of  the  congregations  and  organizations  with  which  they  have 
connections,  will  ever  pray." 

Y  is  a  public  bath  which  we  assisted  the  Association  for  Improv- 
ing the  Condition  of  the  Poor  in  locating.  The  Tenement  House 
Department  can  now  tell  the  blocks  without  bathing  facilities,  but 
until  it  was  created  the  Federation  was  the  only  organization  having 
that  information. 

Z  shows  the  reason  why  we  instituted  Vacation  Bible  Schools 
for  tenement  children  last  summer. 

Illustration  AA  shows  a  playground  for  children  in  the  back 
yard  of  Hartley  House.  A  group  of  churches  working  with  us 
supported  a  playground  together  in  1900,  and  the  summer  play- 
grounds of  the  city  have  followed. 

Illustration  BB  shows  the  extent  of  our  detailed  investigations, 
which  have  covered  a  population  of  1,300,000.  General  investiga- 
tions— that  is  to  say,  a  compilation  of  everjrthing  revealed  by  the 
Federal,  State  or  city  government,  or  by  the  annual  narratives  of 
the  sixty-eight  religious  bodies  in  our  city — have  been  annually 
made  since  1902. 

CC  shows  the  inequitable  distribution  of  churches  in  Greater 
New  York,  and  the  problem  before  us  of  organizing  and  assisting 
their  cooperation. 

DD  shows  the  religious  and  racial  changes  in  New  York  in  the 
last  fifty  years. 

EE  gives  the  results  of  so  organizing  and  assisting  the  churches, 
as  that  cooperative  visitation,  vigilance  and  ministry  shall  be  pos- 
sible. We  have  proven  that  devoted  churches,  by  cooperating,  can 
discover  all  the  churchless  Protestants  of  a  community  when  there 
is  only  one  Protestant  church  to  8,000  people.  We  have  proven 
that  such  discovery  results,  when  coupled  with  cooperative  vigil- 
ance and  ministry,  in  the  reduction  of  the  churchless  from  48  per 
cent,  to  28  per  cent,  in  five  years. 

The  institutions  which  we  have  located  in  five  years — churches, 
settlements,  kindergartens,  model  tenements,  parks,  etc. — represent 
nearly  $3,000,000  in  value.  The  institutions  advised  with  infor- 
mation, nowhere  else  to  be  had  in  New  York,  and  nowhere  to  be 
had  for  church  purposes  in  any  other  city  of  the  world,  represent 
nearly  $10,000,000  more. 

But  the  best  of  all  is  the  rallying  together  of  men  who  believe 


FEDERATIVE    WORK   IN    THE   SMALLER    CITIES  307 

that  Christ  is  the  Redeemer  of  souls  and  society,  for  a  common 
service,  to  make  the  city  Christian  in  its  conduct;  and  that  this 
will  be  done  on  a  civic  scale  in  our  present  decade  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  we  are  about  to  introduce  the  cooperative  parish  system 
throughout  the  whole  Borough  of  Brooklyn. 


WORK  IN  THE    SMALLER  CITIES   AND    RURAL 
DISTRICTS 

The  Rev.  Edward  Tallmadge  Root 


"Yes;  but  what  can  the  Churches  do  together?"  Thus  replied 
a  Christian  business  man  to  an  argument  for  Federation.  This  is 
the  challenge  which  must  be  met  to  overcome  the  natural  indiffer- 
ence and  prejudice  toward  Federation  as  "another  organization.'* 
Wisely,  therefore,  is  this  session  devoted  to  "present  practical 
workings." 

Back  of  his  question  lies  another :  "Why  do  the  Churches  need 
to  do  anything  together?  Wliy  can  they  not  continue  to  succeed 
working  separately,  as  they  did  during  the  nineteenth  century?" 

I  reply  by  citing  one  actual  case.  In  1895  a  Providence  Church 
reorganized  and  issued  a  prospectus : 

We  desire  to  be  a  church  for  the  whole  man  and  for  the  whole  com- 
munity. The  work  which  confronts  us  is  beyond  our  power  to  estimate. 
Within  a  radius  of  four  thousand  feet  live  ten  thousand  people.  To 
these  thousands  we  must  carry  the  Gospel. 

Ten  years  have  passed.  The  church  has  exceeded  the  ratio  of 
growth  of  its  denomination  in  the  city.  Yet  it  has  by  no  means 
realized  its  high  hopes.  The  first  pastor  left  discouraged  within 
two  years.  A  second,  after  six  years,  had  to  face  the  objection, 
"Our  progress  is  too  slow." 

Is  the  case  not  typical,  both  in  its  ambition  and  in  the  sense  of 
comparative  failure?  Why,  with  such  a  spirit  and  such  appar- 
ently large  fields,  do  our  churches  find  their  work  so  difficult? 

The  data  gleaned  from  two  years  of  the  Cooperative  Parish 
System  enable  us  to  give  an  answer,  for  Providence  at  least.     And 


308  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

these  very  data,  please  note  in  passing,  illustrate  the  method  and 
value  of  Federation.  We  now  know  the  probable  religious  prefer- 
ence of  the  ten  thousand.  Non-Christians  and  Catholics  number 
3,500.  Of  the  6,500  Protestants  only  520  are  wholly  without  a 
church  preference;  but  the  remaining  6,000  scatter  among  some 
fifteen  denominations  and  sixty  churches.  Only  884  choose  the 
denomination,  and  280  the  church  in  question;  and  of  the  884, 
60  have  no  choice  of  a  church  home.  This  being  so,  how  many 
did  the  church  really  have  to  evangelize?  The  520  must  be  divided 
with  nine  other  churches  whose  field  is  within  the  radius  named; 
the  60  with  a  sister  church,  and  of  the  280  preferences  10  per  cent 
may  be  unknown  before  the  canvass;  52  plus  30  plus  28  equals  110, 
which  is  all  that  the  church  could  hope  to  win,  in  addition  to  252 
already  attached,  out  of  each  10,000,  unless — and  please  mark  the 
qualification — it  drew  away  from  other  churches. 

Is  it  not  obvious,  in  the  light  of  such  facts,  why  Church  work 
is  difiicult?  The  surprising  thing  is  that  there  is  any  progress. 
The  average  city  church  fails  to  win  the  success  which  apparently 
is  within  its  grasp^,  for  two  reasons :  its  ignorance  of  the  real  fads 
and  its  ignoring  of  other  religious  factors.  The  case  cited  illus- 
trates our  ignorance:  the  church  said,  "We  have  ten  thousand  to 
evangelize"  when  it  really  could  not  hope  to  win  more  than  110. 
It  is  an  example  of  our  sublime  parish-egotism:  the  prospectus 
ignored  the  fact  that  the  task  of  carrying  the  Gospel  to  the  ten 
thousand  was  shared  by  nine,  if  not  fiity-nine,  other  churches. 

The  remedy  is  equally  obvious.  It  is  now  as  plain  as  daylight 
why  the  churches  can  no  longer  succeed  without  Federation. 
Instead  of  remaining  ignorant  of  the  facts  and  ignoring  other  fac- 
tors, each  church  must  comprehend  all  the  facts  and  cooperate  with 
all  other  factors.  The  coincidence  of  these  two  obligations  deter- 
mines the  form  of  the  cooperation.  Each  church  must  cooperate 
with  other  religious  factors  to  ascertain  all  the  facts.  The  foun- 
dation of  all  successful  Federation  is  the  Cooperative  Parish  plan. 
This  is  so — 

First — Because  we  must  know  the  facts.  Knowledge  is  power. 
Power  over  men  is  gained  only  by  knowledge  of  men.  This  is  the 
secret  of  the  politician.  Said  one  to  me :  "You  are  right.  As  a 
member  of  our  ward  committee  I  would  be  ashamed  not  to  know 
every  voter  in  the  ward.  When  we  go  to  caucus  we  know  how  every 
man  stands.     We  sit  up  till  midnight  to  do  it."     Shall  men  do  for 


FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    THE    SMALLER    CITIES  309 

party  what  they  are  not  willing  to  do  for  Christ?  The  practice  of 
these  most  practical  of  men  proves  the  feasibility  of  similar  knowl- 
edge of  the  attitude  toward  religion  and  moral  questions  of  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  community,  and  disposes  of  the 
objection  that  it  is  an  interference  with  individual  rights.  This 
knowledge,  indeed,  must  be  gained  and  used  with  full  respect  for 
sacredness  of  the  individual  conscience  and  the  rights  of  privacy. 
What  is  known  may  make  it  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  let  a  man 
alone.  But  it  cannot  hope  to  do  anything  for  a  man  till  at  least 
it  knows  his  name  and  address. 

Second — Because  the  facts  can  be  gained  and  persons  won  only 
by  persistent  pastoral,  personal  visitation.  When  all  in  a  locality 
attended  one  church,  neighborhood  itself  could  be  relied  upon  to 
carry  the  majorit}^  into  the  church  life.  But  when  preferences  are 
so  scattered  that  scarcely  two  houses  in  succession  send  forth  attend- 
ants to  the  same  church,  people  evidently  need  ten  times  as  much 
looking  up  and  looking  after. 

Third — Because  to  gain  such  personal  acquaintance  thoroughly 
and  economically  a  church  must  cooperate  with  all  others.  The 
task  is  so  vast,  because  of  the  numbers,  and  because  changes  are  so 
constant  and  rapid;  and  the  roots  and  branches  of  the  churches 
are  so  intertwined  that  no  one  Church  or  denomination  can  do  it 
alone.  Even  in  a  city  like  Providence  it  requires  one  hundred  calls 
to  discover  one  new  family  for  a  given  church.  If  each  visitor 
goes  only  on  behalf  of  one  Church,  calls  on  twenty-four  new  fami- 
lies are  wasted.  If  each  represents  all,  every  new  family  counts 
for  some  Church.  Moreover,  if  each  Church  sends  a  visitor,  many 
will  be  repelled  from  all  by  the  constant  annoyance  and  by  the 
apparent  competition  of  the  churches.  The  effect  upon  outsiders 
may  be  imagined  when  the  pastor  of  a  large  church  in  a  rapidly 
growing  New  England  city  said  in  his  resignation :  "It  is  hard  to 
believe  that  in  a  city  like  this  the  number  that  can  be  relied  upon 
to  support  Protestant  churches  is  so  small  that  they  must  compete 
for  the  privilege  of  edifying  them.  Such,  however,  appears  to  be 
the  fact ;  and  I  leave  the  task  to  any  who  believes  it  worth  while." 
Eivals  the  churches  must  not  be.  Then  they  must  be  members 
one  of  another. 

Fourth — Because  any  successful  plan  must  be  permanent.  A 
-spasmodic  church  census  is  of  little  value,  because  the  facts  are 


310  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

daily  clianging,  and  because  the  churches  are  not  prepared  to  appre- 
ciate or  use  the  mass  of  information  which  it  suddenly  dumps 
upon  them. 

These  four  reasons  require  the  permanent-parish  plan,  each 
church  assuming  permanent  oversight  of  a  definite  district,  to 
ascertain  and  keep  up  to  date,  in  a  complete  religious  house  direc- 
tory, knowledge  of  the  church  relationships  of  every  family,  mutu- 
ally reporting  to  each  other.  The  task  is  evidently  immense.  It 
requires  a  vast  amount  of  work.  But  do  not  the  facts  cited  demon- 
strate, as  completely  as  a  proposition  in  Euclid,  that  it  must  be 
done?  That  all  the  other  magnificent  work  of  the  churches  will 
fail  without  it? 

We  do  not  claim  to  have  yet  established  such  a  plan  in  Provi- 
dence. We  have  but  been  prospecting.  The  result  of  our  work 
for  two  years  is  simply  this :  We  have  demonstrated  that  such  a 
plan  is  to-day  indispensable  and  that  it  is  feasible.  It  has  been 
proved  by  experience  that  acceptable  districts  can  be  assigned,  usu- 
ally on  the  basis  of  the  voting  practice;  that  the  Churches  can  be 
persuaded  to  accept — out  of  seventy-six  offered  but  four  have  been 
declined ;  that  they  will  canvass,  and  even  recanvass ;  that  the  work 
can  be  done  either  by  volunteers  or  by  a  paid  worker  at  moderate 
cost ;  and  that  results  justify  the  effort.  "The  canvass  was  a  reve- 
lation. I  knew  of  thirty-five;  it  discovered  118  families  prefer- 
ring my  church" — such  are  some  of  the  testimonies.  In  other 
cases  there  is  disappointment.  The  method  only  discloses  the  facts 
as  they  are.  But  a  negative  result  may  be  of  value.  One  pastor 
who  finished  his  "parish"  himself  said :  "I  found  little  for  us. 
But  it  was  as  rewarding  work  as  I  ever  did.  I  found  out  one  thing : 
Our  church  is  in  the  wrong  place." 

Aside  from  tangible  results,  the  whole  community  has  been 
impressed  by  this  effort  of  the  Churches  to  do  something  together. 
A  year  ago  we  received  a  letter  from  a  Catholic^  who  wrote  that  he 
was  sceptical  of  any  permanent  Protestant  unity,  but  gave  us  credit 
for  sincerity,  and  signed  himself  "An  Admirer."  That  the  impres- 
sion is  not  deeper  is  due  to  the  opinion  expressed  by  one,  that  the 
Churches  have  done  what  they  have,  not  because  they  wanted  to, 
but  because  they  have  been  dragooned  into  it !  "One  thing  is  cer- 
tain ;  the  Churches  will  never  reach  the  unchurched  until  they  want 
to  reach  them."  They  must  be  converted  before  they  can  convert. 
The  value  of  the  parish-plan  lies  in  fastening  the  attention  of  the 
Churches  upon  their  real  obligation,  not  to  the  few  who  happen  to 


FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    RURAL    DISTRICTS  311 

constitute  their  membership,  but  to  the  entire  community;  and 
therefore  their  obligation  to  work  together.  Some  men  think  in 
parishes  and  some  in  continents.  This  at  least  has  been  accom- 
plished ;  the  Churches  have  been  made  to  think  as  never  before,  to 
think  in  terms  of  the  city's  need! 

The  parish-plan  is  but  the  foundation  of  Federation;  but  it  ia 
the  indispensable  foundation.  Only  thorough  knowledge  of  every 
block,  its  residents,  evils  and  needs,  physical  and  moral,  will  rouse 
or  guide  the  Churches  to  effective  cooperation  in  any  line.  One, 
for  example,  discovered  an  average  of  350  homeless  men  in  cheap 
lodging-houses  within  its  parish,  and  took  steps  at  once  to  establish 
a  lodging-house  under  church  auspices.  Such  sense  of  responsibil- 
ity for  a  definite  territory  will  grow  until — to  quote  William 
Stead's  striking  phrase — a  church  will  drape  itself  in  mourning 
should  an  illegitimate  birth  take  place  within  its  district ! 

We  have  spoken  of  the  cities.  But  the  essential  features  of  the 
parish-plan  are  equally  applicable  to  smaller  couamunities.  The 
need,  indeed,  is  less;  people  are  less  liable  to  be  overlooked  with 
ordinary  methods.  But  the  difficulty  is  proportionately  decreased.. 
Eelatively  to  the  effort  required,  results  are  equally  great.  More- 
over, in  a  smaller  place,  rivalry  between  the  Churches  is  more 
obvious,  bitter  and  disastrous.  The  Secretary  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Civic  League  says  that  while  the  Churches  might  be  the 
strongest  factor  for  social  betterment,  in  most  towns,  because  of 
their  divisions,  they  are  themselves  the  cause  of  faction  and  dis- 
cord. If  nothing  else  is  gained  by  it,  cooperation  is  necessary  to 
prove  that  the  Churches  are  not  rivals,  but  members  one  of  another. 
Several  methods  have  been  found  successful.  In  a  village  of 
1,000  inhabitants  the  pastor  of  the  one  church  had  a  house-to- 
house  canvass  made;  its  results  recorded  in  a  card  directory;  the 
territory  divided  into  18  districts  with  a  secretary  over  each,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  report  changes;  and  was  thus  able  to  leave  to  his 
successor  a  photograph  of  religious  conditions  brought  up  to  date ! 
Several  Churches  can  do  the  same,  by  each  taking  a  section,  mutu- 
ally reporting.  Or,  like  the  Fraternal  Council  of  Jamaica  Plain, 
Mass.,  they  may  employ  one  visitor  to  look  after  the  whole  in  the 
name  of  all. 

Rural  communities  may  still  more  easily  be  known.  Where  all 
know  their  neighbors,  a  complete  canvass  may  not  be  necessary. 
On  the  basis  of  voting  and  tax-lists,  a  roll  of  inhabitants  may  be 
made;  all  accounted  for  by  any  pastor,  eliminated;  and  the  rest 


312  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

assigned  to  Churches  best  fitted  to  look  after  them.  One  church 
thus  increased  its  constituency  from  30  out  of  a  possible  90 
families,  to  60,  and  saved  itself  from  extinction.  At  the  St. 
Louis  Fair  was  exhibited  a  map  made  by  a  county  Sunday  School 
Association,  showing  every  house  on  every  road  and  the  relation 
of  the  family  to  the  associated  schools,  with  which,  by  this 
method,  it  had  succeeded  in  affiliating,  at  least  through  the  Home 
Department,  95  per  cent !  In  smaller  communities,  also,  thorough 
knowledge  of  men  and  conditions  will  prove  the  basis  of  every 
kind  of  cooperative  service.  What  may  be  done  is  indicated  by 
two  leaflets  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  delegates:  "The  Westerly 
Way"  and  "Five  Suggestions  Made  by  the  Diocesan  Convention 
and  Congregational  Association  of  Massachusetts."  The  Christian 
League  of  Methuen  illustrates  the  variety  of  service  to  the  com- 
munity which  the  Churches  may  render  when  organized  to  act 
together.  When  fake  insurance  orders  were  deluding  its  people 
by  promises  of  impossible  returns,  the  League  held  a  public  meet- 
ing which  crowded  the  town  hall,  addressed  by  the  State  Insur- 
ance Commissioner,  whose  thorough  exposure  killed  the  craze. 
By  tliis  act  the  League  saved  the  community  more  than  its  ex- 
penses for  a  century!  It  has  recently  established  a  Methuen 
free-bed  in  the  Lawrence  Hospital,  for  which  a  ladies'  auxiliary, 
bringing  together  ladies  of  all  the  Churches — itself  a  thing  worth 
doing — raises  the  money  needed  a  year  in  advance.  But  the  most 
remarkable  thing  about  it  is  the  existence  of  the  League  for  18 
years.  If  this  little  league  of  five  Churches,  without  precedents, 
without  the  stimulus  of  a  general  movement,  has  survived  and 
served  effectively  for  two  decades,  how  much  more  successful  local 
federations  may  be  made  now  that  denominational  conventions 
are  calling  upon  every  community  in  the  State  to  test  the  prin- 
ciple of  cooperation! 

The  beginnings  that  have  been  made  demonstrate  that  the 
Churches  can  effectively  cooperate  if  they  will ;  that  results  justify 
the  effort;  and  that  federate  they  must,  if  they  are  to  meet  the 
crisis  through  which  our  religious  institutions  are  passing.  For, 
as  a  leading  denominational  weekly  says  editorially : 

This  is  the  hour  of  their  opportunity.  Other  organizations  have 
been  taking  up  worli  for  the  community  which  belongs  to  the  Churches, 
but  which  they  cannot  do  separately.  If  they  do  not  unite  to  do  it  the 
power  will  pass  from  their  hands. 


WORK    IN    THE    STATES 


The  Rev.  Alfred  Williams  Anthony,  D.D. 


Federation,  like  any  new  movement,  may  begin  in  one  of  two 
ways.  It  may  be  a  native  plant,  indigenous  to  the  soil,  springing 
up  because  of  seeds  which  have  become  insistent  and  perplexities 
which  must  have  attention.  Originating  in  its  own  environment. 
Federation  may  be  far  from  perfect,  yet  it  will  be  hardy ;  it  will  be 
adapted  to  local  conditions,  it  will  have  roots  which  take  hold  upon 
nourishment,  it  will  not  easily  fade  and  die.  Native  stock  may 
be  scraggy,  but  it  is  tough. 

Or  by  an  evangelism  of  ideals.  Federation  may  come  into  a  com- 
munity from  without,  a  hothouse  plant,  fair,  beautiful,  well  nigh 
faultless.  Genius  may  have  devised  it,  enthusiasm  propagated,  de- 
votion adopted  and  nurtured  it ;  yet  the  exotic  may  lack  adaptabil- 
ity, it  may  not  stand  the  storm  and  stress,  it  may  fade  and  fail. 

The  Maine  experiment  in  Federation  is  strictly  native.  It  is 
not  yet  perfect,  nor  has  it  ushered  in  the  millennium.  Root  has 
it,  and  soil.  Despite  some  misunderstandings  and  some  mistreat- 
ments, it  still  thrives  in  the  hard,  sober  sense  of  five  denominations. 

In  some  respects  Maine  is  a  particularly  favorable  field  for  an 
ecclesiastical  experiment.  Her  conditions  are  somewhat  elemental. 
She  has  comparatively  few  denominations.  Presbyterian  and 
Swedenborgian  congregations  can  be  numbered  on  the  fingers; 
Episcopalians  are  few  and  scarcely  autochthonous;  Adventists  are 
in  the  smaller  communities  and  scattered,  and  include  at  the  most 
only  about  eighty  congregations;  until  recently  the  TJniversalists 
were  not  well  organized  nor  aggressive,  and  Unitarian  churches  are 
found  in  very  few  communities.  The  leading  denominations,  both 
in  numbers  and  influence,  are  the  Methodist,  the  Congregational, 
the  Baptist,  the  Free  Baptist  and  the  Christian.  It  is  these  five 
which  have  united  to  maintain  a  common  federative  centre. 

Maine's  Church  problem  is  almost  wholly  rural.  There  are  no 
large  cities  in  the  metropolitan  sense,  no  single  community  in  the 
State  having  more  than  fifty  thousand  people  living  in  urban  con- 
ditions. From  the  towns  of  Maine  have  been  going  to  other  States 
and  to  the  industrial  centres  a  steady  stream  of  the  best  New  Eng- 
land stock,  leaving  the  country  Churches  impoverished.    It  is  not  a 


314  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

facetious  remark,  made  once  by  Dr.  Josiah  Strong  in  naming  the 
cities  of  Maine,  to  mention  among  them  Boston,  New  York,  Chicago, 
Minneapolis  and  San  Francisco,  for  Maine  people  in  large  numbers 
reside  in  all  the  large  cities  of  the  country.  And  behind  this  out- 
pouring stream  are  left  vacant  places,  especially  in  the  Churches; 
for  of  the  numbers  annually  coming  into  the  State  to  run  her  mills, 
fell  her  trees  and  till  her  soil  comparatively  few  replenish  the  Prot- 
estant population. 

An  increasing  foreign  population,  the  fragments  of  Churches  in 
village  and  country,  and  sparse  population  in  nearly  all  the  towns 
— these  characterize  the  acute  phases  of  the  situation.  In  attempt- 
ing to  deal  with  such  conditions  it  was  inevitable  that  denomina- 
tional agents  should  vie  with  one  another  in  unholy  rivalry  for 
meagre  advantages,  that  denominational  treasuries  should  be  taxed 
for  the  maintenance  of  forlorn  hopes,  and  that  sectarian  rancor 
should  be  engendered  in  some  of  the  smaller  communities  where 
only  sweet  Christian  charity  should  prevail.  The  Christian 
Church,  broken  into  fragments,  appeared  in  wasteful  strife. 

A  Methodist  pastor  was  the  first  to  suggest  a  practical  way  out. 
Appointed  fraternal  delegate  to  the  State  Congregational  Confer- 
ence in  1890  and  unable  to  attend  in  person,  he  wrote  a  letter 
frankly  confessing  the  unhappy  situation  and  suggesting  a  feder- 
ative movement.  A  Congregational  College  president  caught  up  the 
idea  and  gave  it  the  impetus  of  his  own  personality  and  reputation. 
By  the  Congregationalists  a  committee  was  appointed  to  invite  a 
conference  of  selected  men  from  other  denominations.  That  same 
year  representatives  of  the  Methodists,  the  Baptists,  the  Free  Bap- 
tists and  the  Christians  met  with  the  Congregationalist  committee  in 
fraternal  deliberations  and  voted  to  request  their  respective  denomi- 
national bodies  of  the  State  to  appoint  delegates  to  a  conference 
empowered  to  perfect  such  organization  as  would  seem  to  meet  the 
exigencies  of  the  situation.  The  following  year,  1891,  four  of 
these  denominations  took  such  action,  committing  themselves  by 
so  doing  to  the  federative  plan  which  might  be  evolved.  These 
denominations  were  the  Congregational,  the  Baptist,  the  Free  Bap- 
tist and  the  Christian.  The  Methodist  people  deferred  their  action 
for  two  years. 

At  the  public  meeting  held  in  connection  with  the  conference 
of  these  delegates  in  1891  a  Free  Baptist,  speaking  upon  the  theme, 
"Cooperation:  the  Practical  Ideal,"  largely  formulated  the  prin- 
ciples which  were  recognized  as  lying  at  the  basis  of  the  movement, 


FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    THE    STATES  315 

and  his  phrases  were  to  no  small  extent  incorporated  in  the  state- 
ment of  principles  which  have  subsequently  stood  as  the  formal 
declarations  of  the  Commission,  so  that  the  honored  president  of 
Bowdoin  College,  who  is  also,  and  has  been  from  the  beginning,  the 
president  of  the  Commission,  could  say  in  describing  the  movement 
in  a  recent  issue  of  "The  Congregationalist,"  that  it  was  "suggested 
by  a  Methodist,  initiated  by  a  Congregationalist,  formulated  by  a 
Free  Baptist  and  put  in  operation  by  the  united  efforts  of  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Baptist,  Free  Baptist,  Christian,  Congregational 
and  Methodist  Churches  of  Maine." 

In  1892  the  constitution  and  the  statement  of  principles  which 
were  drawn  up  by  the  representatives  of  the  denominations  had  been 
formally  approved  by  four  of  the  denominations  themselves  in  their 
annual  business  session,  and  the  Interdenominational  Commission 
of  Maine  was  definitely  established.  In  1893  the  Methodists  also 
gave  in  their  allegiance  and  Joined  the  fellowship.  While  indig- 
enous, it  has  been  of  slow  growth.  Suggested  by  a  Methodist,  yet 
three  full  years  elapsed  before  the  Methodists  themselves  could 
enter  the  alliance.  Inaugurated  by  a  Congregationalist  and  from 
the  first  approved  by  the  Congregational  State  Conference,  yet  the 
Congregationalists  have  more  than  any  other  denomination  set  at 
naught  the  decisions  of  the  Commission,  rendered  during  the  last 
dozen  years,  which  have  affected  their  interests.  But  these  are  the 
vicissitudes  of  all  normal  and  hopeful  developments;  there  must 
needs  be  apparent  inconsistencies  and  even  actual  retrogression — 
occasional  reversions  to  type,  as  the  biologist  would  term  them. 
Reforms,  if  thorough,  will  be  slow,  and  reformers  must  be  patient. 
The  federative  ideal,  while  to-day  dominant  in  Maine,  is  neverthe- 
less still  defied  by  a  few.  It  would  be  easy  for  the  historian  to  give 
an  unsavory  fame  to  certain  denominational  agents  by  naming 
them,  who,  although  their  denominations  are  committed  to  the 
plan,  yet  by  their  own  official  acts  as  agents  persevere  in  the  error 
of  the  old  competitive,  sectarian  way. 

The  Commission  consists  of  sixteen  members.  As  the  Method- 
ists of  the  State  are  organized  in  two  annual  conferences,  they  are 
represented  in  the  Commission  by  four  members,  two  from  each 
conference,  one  appointed  each  year  for  a  term  of  two  years ;  while 
the  other  denominations,  organized  in  a  single  State  body,  are  rep- 
resented each  by  three  members  serving  terms  of  three  years  and 
one  appointed  each  year.  The  Commission  has  therefore  a  certain 
fixed  and  permanent  character.     As  a  matter  of  fact    but  thirty- 


316  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

nine  persons  have  served  in  its  membership  during  its  formal  exist- 
ence of  thirteen  years — six  Baptists,  six  Free  Baptists,  eight  Con- 
gregationalists,  fourteen  Methodists  and  five  Christians.  An  ex- 
ecutive committee  of  five,  one  from  each  denomination,  carries  the 
brunt  of  the  work,  hearing  and  adjudicating  cases  which  may  be 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Commission. 

During  its  existence  of  thirteen  years,  since  organized  for  work, 
the  names  of  fifty-one  communities  have  been  entered  upon  the  rec- 
ords where  encroachment  or  friction  or  competition  of  some  kind 
between  the  five  denominations  called  for  adjustment  or  adjudica- 
tion. 

Two  of  these  cases  are  unique.     Two  new  settlements,  opened 
in  the  wilderness  by  the  development  of  previously  unused  water 
powers,  were  booming  like  Western  towns,  and  were  attractive  to 
the  denominations  for  self-expansion  and  aggrandizement.     Should 
they  rush  in  to  forestall  one  another  and  preempt  advantages? 
The  Commission  set  forth  a  better,  a  Christian  way.     By  agreement 
one  denomination  was  given  exclusive  right  in  one  of  these  new 
settlements,  because  it  was  seen  to  have  at  the  outset  the  best  pros- 
pects of  immediate  success,  owing  to  the  residence  there  of  wealthy 
and  influential  members  of  that  Church.     Later,  when  growth  war- 
ranted, another  denomination  was  permitted  to  step  in,  subsequently 
a  third,  and  then  the  community  was  declared  open  ground  for  any, 
as  its  population  was  large  enough  and  varied  enough  for  all.     (In 
connection  with  this  case  occurred  one  of  the  instances  of  retro- 
gression and  reversal  to  type  which  seems  sometimes  to  give  a  bitter 
irony  to  charity.     The  very  persons  because  of  whom  exclusive 
right  of  way  was  given  to  one  denomination  in  this  town,  a  little 
later,  in  order  to  make  the  advantage  already  possessed  yet  more 
advantageous,  caused  the  abortion  and  death,  one  after  the  other, 
of  two  churches  of  sister  denominations  in  an  adjacent  town.     But 
the  spirit  of  comity  in  Maine  fortunately  has  been  broad  enough 
and  strong  enough  to  overlook  affront  and  steadily  persevere,  as  it 
should  everywhere,  if  it  will  pervail.) 

The  other  community  comprised  at  first  about  two  thousand 
nomadic  workmen,  without  homes  or  families,  in  for  the  period  of 
construction  and  then  to  be  replaced  by  steady  employes.  To  meet 
the  needs  of  this  class  of  men  four  of  the  denominations,  through 
their  agents,  erected  a  union  chapel  and  maintained  at  common 
expense  a  minister  in  charge  for  two  years.  When  at  length  the 
population  became  settled  it  was  found  by  a  census  of  religious 


FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    THE    STATES  317 

preferences  that  Congregationalists  and  Baptists  predominated  in 
the  community  and  were  in  sufficient  numbers  to  warrant  the  organ- 
ization of  two  Churches  at  once.  This  was  agreed  upon.  The  Con- 
gregationalists and  Baptists  reimbursed  the  Methodists  and  Free 
Baptists  for  their  share  of  expenditure  to  date  and  began  separate 
and  independent  Churches. 

There  is  at  present  an  instance  of  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the 
denominations  best  prepared  to  render  services,  whereby  in  a  town 
similarly  developing  religious  services  are  maintained  by  several 
jointly  during  the  formative  period  without  determination  as  to 
who  finally  shall  reap  the  ecclesiastical  benefits.  This  case,  now  in 
process,  as  one  might  say,  has  never  been  referred  to  the  Commis- 
sion, although  the  officers  of  the  Commission  have  privately  been 
consulted  respecting  it. 

In  twelve  cases  the  Executive  Committee  has  given  formal  hear- 
ings to  interested  parties  respecting  the  right  or  the  wisdom  of  one 
denomination,  rather  than  another,  to  hold  services  or  maintain  a 
Church  in  a  given  community.  As  the  common  law  on  which  de- 
cisions in  such  cases  should  be  based,  the  Commission  has  formu- 
lated the  following  statement  of  principles : 

"STATEMENT    OF    PRINCIPLES. 

"Eecognizing  the  evident  desire  of  the  evangelical  denomina- 
tions of  Maine  to  do  more  efficient  work  for  our  common  Lord,  and 

"Believing  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  moving  Christians  toward 
practical  cooperation; 

"We  rejoice  in  the  progress  already  made  in  this  direction,  and 
desire  to  affirm  our  convictions  as  follows : 

"I.  That  the  churches  in  the  cities  and  larger  towns  ought  to 
cooperate  according  to  the  plans  of  the  evangelical  alliance,  or 
others  of  similar  nature. 

"II.  That  church  extension  into  destitute  communities  should 
be  conducted,  as  far  as  practicable,  according  to  the  following  con- 
siderations : 

"1.  No  community,  in  which  any  denomination  has  any  legiti- 
mate claim,  should  be  entered  by  any  other  denomination  through 
its  official  agencies  without  conference  with  the  denomination  or 
denominations  having  said  claims. 


318  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

"2.  A  feeble  church  should  be  revived,  if  possible,  rather  than 
a  new  one  established  to  become  its  rival. 

'•'3.  The  preferences  of  a  community  should  always  be  regarded 
by  denominational  committees,  missionary  agents,  and  individual 
workers. 

"4.  Those  denominations  having  churches  nearest  at  hand 
should,  other  things  being  equal,  be  recognized  as  in  the  most  ad- 
vantageous position  to  encourage  and  aid  a  new  enterprise  in  their 
vicinity. 

"5.  In  case  one  denomination  begins  Gospel  work  in  a  destitute 
community  it  should  be  left  to  develop  that  work  without  other 
denominational  interference. 

"6.  Temporary  suspension  of  church  work  by  any  denomina- 
tion occupying  a  field  should  not  be  deemed  sufficient  warrant  in 
itself  for  entrance  into  that  field  by  another  denomination.  Tem- 
porary suspension  should  be  deemed  temporary  abandonment  when 
a  church  has  had  no  preaching  and  held  no  meetings  for  an  entire 
year  or  more. 

"1.  All  questions  of  interpretation  of  the  foregoing  state- 
ments, and  all  cases  of  friction  between  denominations,  or  churches 
of  different  denominations,  should  be  referred  to  the  Commission 
through  its  Executive  Committee." 

Twelve  cases  in  thirteen  years  is  a  low  average  of  friction  and 
appeal.  But  what  has  been  the  verdict,  and  how  has  it  been  re- 
ceived ?  In  six  instances  the  decisions  of  the  Commission  have  been 
acquiesced  in  and  followed,  the  denominations  against  which  the 
decision  has  been  given  withdrawing  the  services  complained  of 
and  leaving  the  field  to  its  sister  denomination.  This  has  been  the 
triumph  of  comity.  But  in  six  instances,  just  fifty  per  cent.,  the 
decisions  have  been  disregarded  by  the  denomination  against  which 
they  have  been  rendered,  the  local  difficulty  has  been  unrelieved, 
and  the  old  method  of  strife  and  competition  has  continued. 
In  two  of  the  six  instances  the  Methodists  have  been  at  fault  twice, 
and  four  times  the  Congregationalists  have  been  at  fault.  Of 
course,  there  are  extenuating  circumstances.  Seldom  does  the 
sinner  pursue  his  course  without  seeing,  from  his  point  of  view, 
some  good  to  be  obtained  by  his  sin.     The  Congregationalists,  not 


FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    THE    STATES  319 

as  a  body  in  Maine,  but  as  individuals,  find  it  difficult  to  become 
dissociated  from  their  accustomed  idea  of  a  Church  Council  and  its 
functions,  when  they  look  at  the  Commission.  The  Commission 
to  them  is  a  Congregational  Council,  on  larger  scale,  with  its 
province  and  powers  prescribed  by  the  call  and  the  letters  missive 
of  each  separate  case.  It  is  not  easy  for  them  to  remember  that  the 
Commission  has  powers,  of  advice  only  to  be  sure,  but  powers  of 
advice  larger  than  the  mere  phraseology  of  the  appeal  which  con- 
stitutes the  burden  of  a  single  case.  It  may  advise  in  all  matters 
which  affect  the  relations  of  the  denominations  within  a  given  com- 
munity, when  once  that  community  has  been  called  to  its  attention, 
and  may  advise  upon  any  of  the  religious  conditions  within  the 
community,  and  not  merely  upon  those  which  some  one  happened 
to  think  of  when  the  Commission  was  asked  to  adjudicate.  New 
ideas  are  the  hardest  thing  in  the  world  to  disseminate.  The  con- 
servatism of  custom  and  routine  must  be  reckoned  with. 

In  thirty-seven  of  the  fifty-one  cases  entered  on  the  records  of 
the  Commission  consultation  respecting  the  clash  of  interests  has 
sufficed  to  relieve  the  strain;  mere  friendly  conference  has  lead  to 
an  adjustment  of  the  difficulties.  Many  other  cases,  without  such 
mention  as  would  justify  entrance  on  the  records,  have  been  ad- 
justed by  the  same  friendly  means,  and  in  a  great  many  other  in- 
stances still,  which  would  elude  any  system  of  enumeration,  an 
intangible  yet  effective  influence  has  gone  forth  from  the  Commis- 
sion restraining  some  symptoms  of  unwarranted  aggressiveness, 
some  acts  of  sectarian  depredation,  and  maintaining  an  ideal  of 
fraternal  cooperation  which  has  tended  to  elevate  very  much  of 
the  Church  work  of  the  State  from  the  low  level  of  partisan  and 
sectarian  rivalry.  Men  fear  to  offend  a  Christian  public  sentiment, 
which  the  Commission  is  recognized  as  embodying. 

There  have  been  attempts  to  enlarge  the  membership  and  the  fel- 
lowship  of  the  Commission.  Twice  the  Episcopalians  of  the  State 
have  been  invited  to  join  in  the  federative  plan,  but  each  time  with- 
out acceptance.  The  Adventists  this  last  year  have,  at  least  on  the 
part  of  influential  individuals,  thought  favorably  of  applying  for 
admission.  The  original  membership  of  five  denominations,  how- 
ever, still  continues. 

At  its  last  meeting,  held  the  first  of  this  present  year,  the  Com- 
mission proposed  an  advanced  step  toward  what  may  be  termed 
reciprocity  between  denominations.  The  statement  of  the  plan  is 
self-explanatory : 


320  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

"In  our  State  are  many  towns  in  which  are  two  or  more- 
churches,  small  and  weak,  because  the  population  has  moved  inta 
the  cities.  If  these  weak  churches  could  be  consolidated  and  the 
religious  forces  of  the  community  combined,  without  engendering 
local  strife  or  personal  estrangement,  the  cause  of  Christ  would  be 
strengthened,  the  problem  of  the  Churches  largely  solved,  and  the 
people  greatly  blessed. 

"It  is  time  for  the  Commission  to  do  more  than  merely  settle 
questions  of  dispute  which  may  arise  and  be  referred  to  it;  it  is 
time  for  it  to  lead  with  some  preventive  and  constructive  policy. 
Hitherto  our  energy  has  been  chiefly  expended  in  crying,  'Hands 
off!'  to  those  who  compete  in  rivalry  and  friction.  Cannot  we 
emphasize  and  realize  fraternal  relations  and  cry,  'Hands  to- 
gether !'  ? 

"To  this  end  we  recommend  the  following  policy  of  reciprocity : 

"1.  That  the  denominations,  through  the  s^ipervising  repre- 
sentatives, such  as  State  agents,  home  missionaries  or  presiding 
elders,  report  to  the  Commission  the  names  of  towns  in  which  a 
union  of  churches  may  seem  desirable,  in  order  that  the  Commis- 
sion may  serve  as  a  clearing  house  and  bureau  of  reciprocity. 

"3.  That  the  Commission  then  shall  consider  the  conditions  in 
these  several  towns,  the  constituencies  of  the  churches  and  the 
changes  which  would  appear  desirable  for  the  best  welfare  of  the 
communities;  and  when  the  Commission  finds  that  an  equitable 
exchange  can  be  made  so  that  in  one  town  denomination  A  may 
surrender  to  denomination  B  its  Church  interests,  and  in  another 
town  denomination  B  can  surrender  an  equal  interest  to  denomina- 
tion A,  then  the  Commission  shall  recommend  to  the  two  denomi- 
nations such  an  exchange. 

"3.  That  such  reciprocal  exchanges  shall  be  contemplated  only 
between  those  denominations  which  distinctly  commit  themselves 
to  the  plan,  and  the  interests  of  other  denominations  shall  be  in  no 
wise  molested  by  recommendations  of  the  Commission. 

"4.  It  is  recognized  that  this  plan  requires  great  care  and  con- 
sideration in  its  execution,  lest  the  prejudices  and  feelings  of  local 
Church  members  be  ignored  and  ideal  states  be  sought  which  are 
not  practical.  Particularly  must  all  conscientious  scruples  be  care- 
fully safeguarded  and  good  feeling  and  brotherly  love  be  preserved. 


HON.  HENRY  KIRKE   PORTER 


REV.  JAMES   L.  BARTON,  D.D. 


REV.  WILLIAM   P.  FAUNCE,  D.D.,  LL.D.  REV.  H.  L.  WILLETT.  Ph  D. 


FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    THE    STATES  321 

"5.  This  plan  distinctly  confesses  that  so-called  'union' 
churches,  while  approved  in  some  places,  yet  incur  so  many  perils, 
through  their  lack  of  associational  fellowship  or  superior  ecclesias- 
tical supervision,  through  having  no  larger  missionary  interests, 
either  home  or  foreign,  and  no  approved  ministry  from  which  to 
secure  pastoral  care,  as  to  be  unwise  organizations  to  encourage. 
This  plan  aims  at  consolidating  religious  forces  and  leaving  them 
within  the  limits  of  denominational  fellowship." 

It  is  obvious  that  this  plan  aims  at  nothing  visionary,  and  yet, 
when  human  nature  is  taken  into  account,  one  knows  that  real  dif- 
ficulties will  be  encountered  when  attempts  are  made  to  put  it  into 
actual  operation.  Such  reciprocal  exchanges  may  be  most  easily 
expected,  if  at  all,  between  the  Congregationalists  and  the  Chris- 
tians, and  between  the  Baptists  and  Free  Baptists.  Signs  are  not 
wanting  that  these  two  pairs  of  denominations  may  cooperate  to 
this  extent  in  the  State.  But  the  real  difficulty,  outside  of  the 
control  of  leaders,  will  arise  in  the  communities  where  one  Church 
withdraws  and  its  constituency  will  be  asked  to  unite  with  the  one 
which  will  be  granted  the  ground.  It  often  happens  that  when 
surrenders  are  called  for  doctrinal  tenets  are  furbished  up  until 
they  appear  to  their  possessors  to  scintillate  with  the  very  glory  of 
the  Shekinah.  All  problems  of  Church  union,  after  all,  I  venture 
to  declare,  will  be  found  to  rest  ultimately  upon  the  character  and 
the  convictions  of  the  lay  members  in  the  local  church. 

There  are  five  distinct  federative  ideals  before  the  country  to- 
day. This  experiment  in  Maine  is  but  one  of  the  five.  It  has 
worked  out  no  solutions  respecting  the  other  four,  though  it  may 
shed,  and  I  think  does  shed,  light  upon  them  all.  Our  thinking 
will  be  clear  if  we  distinguish  the  five : 

1.  A  great  Church  alliance,  into  which  all  Protestant  denomi- 
nations may  enter  in  order  to  present  a  solid  front  against  certain 
common  foes,  the  foes  being  in  some  minds  many,  in  others  varying 
with  times  and  seasons.  The  Evangelical  Alliance  was  of  this 
aature.  This  Inter-Church  Federation  may  be  made  a  permanent 
organization  of  this  nature.  Such  an  organization  has  its  excel- 
lences and  promises  its  rewards. 

2.  A  real  union  of  denominations.  Bodies  nearly  alike  are 
drawing  together.     This  is  apparent  in  the  Presbyterian  group,  in 


322  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

the  Baptist  group,  in  the  Congregational  group,  and  in  the  Method- 
ist group.  In  New  Brunswick  Baptists  and  Free  Baptists  have 
united  and  formed  a  new  denomination,  known  as  the  United  Bap- 
tist. The  Congregationalists,  the  United  Brethren  and  the  Prot- 
estant Methodists  convene  next  February  in  a  General  Council  in- 
clusive of  them  all,  on  a  new  plan  of  amalgamation.  Other  bodies 
are  seeking  combinations  which  mean  eventually  a  real  fusion. 

3.  A  Federation  of  Church  forces  for  common  objects  within  a 
limited  and  definite  area.  Such  federations  are  already  in  exist- 
ence in  cities  like  New  York,  Hartford  and  Cleveland.  These 
federations  have  in  view  chiefly  ethical  objects,  the  removal  of  ob- 
jectionable billposters  from  public  places,  the  suppression  of  vice, 
the  better  enforcement  of  law,  the  gathering  of  statistics  and  of 
information  generally  which  will  enable  the  cooperating  churches 
intelligently  to  grapple  with  the  social  and  moral  conditions  which 
they  face. 

4.  A  Federation  whose  distinctive  aim  is  evangelistic,  either  by 
way  of  union  services  or  of  coordinate  and  cooperating  parishes. 
Temporary  union  services  have  been  a  happy  expedient  often  em- 
ployed when  noted  evangelists  have  visited  a  community.  Provi- 
dence has  entered  upon  a  federation,  which  I  understand  to  have  as 
its  primary  aim  the  evangelizing  of  the  community  through  a  per- 
manent cooperative  parish  plan,  which  when  perfectly  carried  out 
will  place  every  soul  who  will  receive  it  under  the  ministration  of 
some  one  pastor  and  some  one  church,  and  every  other  pastor  and 
church  will  recognize  that  relation  and  its  attendant  responsibilities. 

5.  There  is  the  home  missionary  plan  of  Federation.  This  is 
the  plan  exemplified  by  the  Interdenominational  Commission  of 
Maine.  It  relates  to  the  country  church ;  it  deals  with  rural  prob- 
lems; it  regulates  the  relations  of  denominational  agencies  in  aid- 
ing, planting  and  sustaining  the  weaker  interests.  This  plan,  since 
Maine  began  it,  has  been  instituted  in  New  Hampshire,  Massachu- 
setts, Michigan,  New  York  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  It  is  reason- 
able and  workable,  and,  beyond  the  good  which  it  may  directly  ac- 
complish, it  produces  in  those  who  partake  of  its  ideals  and  its 
operations  a  broader  outlook  and  a  sweeter,  stronger  spirit  of  Chris- 
tian charity. 


WORK    IN    THE    STATES 


The  Rev.  J,  Winthrop  Heqeman,  Ph.D. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Fellow  Citizens  of  the  Kingdom  of  God : 

The  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Workers  of  New- 
York  State  was  organized  in  Syracuse  under  the  auspices  of  the 
National  Federation  just  five  years  ago  this  week.  Nine  denomi- 
nations were  represented,  five  of  which  sent  official  delegates. 
President  Boosevelt,  then  Governor  of  the  State,  in  a  character- 
istic address  made  an  earnest  plea  for  Federation.  The  proposition 
before  the  conference  was  definite.  Given  the  supreme  aim  of  the 
Churches  to  bring  the  spirit  of  Jesus  into  every  home  in  New 
York,  to  realize  in  every  community  the  ideals  and  structure  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  and  to  personally  apply  the  law  of  love  to 
€very  relation  of  life,  how  can  we  best  effect  it? 

The  answer  to  this  would  determine  the  scope,  plan,  method 
and  practical  working  of  a  Federation.  The  answer  could  not  be 
fully  made  unless  the  conditions  which  cooperating  Churches 
would  be  up  against  could  be  accurately  known.  No  one  knew 
these.  They  would  have  to  be  worked  out  as  we  felt  our  way 
along.  Our  history  must  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  our  pur- 
pose to  seek,  first,  the  realization  of  God's  Kingdom.  We  expect 
that  Churches  coming  together  under  this  supreme  aim  will  do 
their  present  work  with  greater  economy  and  eflBciency,  and  will 
in  addition  accomplish  that  which  they  ought  to  do,  are  not 
doing,  never  have  done,  and  cannot  do  without  cooperation. 

Our  organization  was  effected  under  two  basic  ideas — the 
Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  and  incarnation.  The  idea  of  the 
kingdom  fixed  the  relation  of  Churches  to  each  other  and  to  all  in 
the  social  organism.  Incarnation  supplied  and  transmitted  the 
power  to  effect  the  function  of  the  kingdom.  Wherever  these 
basic  conceptions  have  been  active  federations  in  New  York 
have  been  a  success.  Where  they  have  not  controlled  thought 
and  action  federations  have  failed.  They  govern  its  practical 
working  at  every  point.  The  dominance  of  the  kingdom  idea  in- 
fluenced the  rejection  of  a  motion  in  the  conference  to  limit  the 
membership  to  so-called  evangelical  churches.  Nothing  should  go 
into  the  constitution  which  could  exclude  any  citizen  of  God's 


324  OHVRCH   FEDERATION 

Kingdom  who  was  willing  to  help  in  extending  the  kingdom. 
Federation  in  New  York  was  to  he  as  inclusive  as  the  kingdom 
whose  naturalization  papers  of  citizenship  were  given  to  all  having 
the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ.  Federation  not  heing  a  scheme  of  cor- 
porate church  unity,  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  peculiar  creed, 
polity  or  traditions  of  its  constituency.  It  was  simply  an  inter- 
church  hoard  of  service  to  effect  the  aims  of  the  kingdom,  and 
could  not  be  a  select  ecclesiastical-prohibition  party.  Each  com- 
munity must  have  local  option  to  decide  for  itself  the  Churches 
to  come  into  its  Federation.  We  deprecated  any  prominence  of 
dogma  which  by  its  divisive  action  has  always  from  the  edict  of 
Theodosius  dismembered  the  body  of  Christ  and  driven  Jesus  out 
of  the  Churches. 

The  word  "evangelical^'  limited  the  usefulness  of  the  Evangel- 
ical Alliance,  and  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  the 
evangelical  limitation  of  membership  hindered  its  progress. 
When  it  was  cut  out  of  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  that  institution  began 
its  career  of  success.  It  would  reject  Jew,  Roman  Catholic, 
Lutheran  and  Episcopalian,  which  historically  are  non-evangelical. 
We  would  exclude  only  whatever  would  prevent  a  cooperant 
church  from  subduing  the  State  of  New  York  unto  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  recalling  how  theological  divisions  in  the  fourth  century 
prevented  the  Church  from  using  its  opportunity  of  subduing 
imto  itself  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  We  needed  Churches  in 
which  the  spirit  of  Jesus  was  alive,  whatever  their  biology.  This 
action  affirmed  the  organic  nature  of  the  kingdom.  Its  unity  of 
membership  was  based  on  inherence  in  the  Holy  Spirit  and  a 
consequent  coherence  with  all  having  the  same  spirit.  It  also  laid 
emphasis  upon  social  Christianity.  It  subordinated  the  developing 
of  churches  as  institutions  existing  for  themselves  as  the  end  of 
all  activity  to  their  use  as  the  best  instruments  for  saving  lost 
souls  and  for  securing  the  regeneration  of  the  social  organism.  It 
shifts  the  aim  of  getting  some  people  to  the  Church  into  getting 
the  whole  Church  into  service  for  the  whole  community;  as  the 
Master  changed  the  Old  Testament  ideal  of  "the  people  for  God" 
into  that  of  "God  for  the  people,"  giving  His  life  for  them,  and 
"the  people  for  one  another  as  members  of  one  body."  It  co- 
ordinated as  Christian  workers  any  organization  whose  functions 
could  be  used  to  extend  the  kingdom.  The  first  work  was  a  di- 
vision of  the  State  into  counties,  grouped  for  comity  and  evan- 
gelization. Local  federations  were  started  through  interest  in  the 


FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    THE    STATES  325 

new  idea,  but  some  were  soon  in  a  state  of  suspended  animation. 
The  causes  of  their  failure  were : 

First.  The  lack  of  a  proper  idea  of  the  kingdom  and  the 
involved  relation  of  a  Church  to  others  in  their  common  organic 
unity  in  the  kingdom. 

Second.  Growing  out  of  this,  the  idea  of  a  Church  as  existiug 
for  itself  as  the  aim  of  all  activity  and  for  some  select  classes 
as  its  clientele,  the  pastor  to  build  up  his  Church  first  of  all,  and 
incidentally  to  save  souls. 

Third.  The  feeling  that  the  people  are  for  the  Church  instead 
of  the  Church  for  the  community.  The  assumption  of  some  parts 
of  the  kingdom  that  they  are  it,  the  whole  thing  and  the  only, 
ignoring  the  law  of  harmony  of  parts  in  one  body  and  sinking  to 
the  low  order  of  amoeba. 

Fourth.     Ignorance  of  conditions  which  require  cooperation. 

Fifth.  Ignorance  of  the  nature,  purpose  and  method  of  fed- 
eration and  of  the  law  of  life  that  competition  must  end  at  the 
point  where  cooperation  begins. 

Sixth.     Lack  of  training  to  do  work  outside  of  parish  routine. 

Seventh.  Lack  of  social  mixers  to  break  up  denominational 
caste,  and  of  social  centres  as  saloon  substitutes  and  creating  con- 
ditions favorable  to  spiritual  growth. 

Eighth.  Lack  of  use  of  lay  element  to  do  for  the  advance  of 
the  kingdom  what  captains  of  industry  are  doing  for  the  world 
of  commerce ;  lack  of  a  programme  and  a  secreitary  to  carry  out  its 
details.    Some  federations,  having  nothing  to  do,  did  it  and  died. 

Ninth.  Peculiar  characters  in  the  ministry  conditioned  by 
their  seminaries  and  denominational  individualism.  The  denomi- 
national jingo  who  identifies  the  kingdom  with  his  communion 
and  ignores  others.  The  small  man  in  a  big  Church  who  prides 
himself  on  success  doesn't  want  the  people  in  his  Church  and 
treats  other  Churches  cavalierly.  The  small  man  in  a  small  Church 
afraid  to  let  go  his  work,  lest  by  Federation  he  lose  some  ad- 
vantage to  competing  Churches.     Another  who,  finding  that  Fed- 


326  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

eration  cannot  make  his  Church  more  successful,  will  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  it.  The  Roman  Catholic  who  does  not  have  to  go 
after  the  people,  because  they  are  trained  to  come  to  the  Churcli, 
and  who  identifies  the  kingdom  with  his  Church.  The  conscien- 
tious churchman  like  one  who  wrote  me:  "There  is  only  one 
Christian  Church,  hence  we  cannot  federate  with  so-called 
Churches.  You  yourself  are  damned  and  will  go  to  hell  unless 
you  are  immersed." 

These  are  types  of  men  who  cannot  see  the  kingdom  on  ac- 
count of  their  Churches,  and  who,  if  they  came  into  a  Federation, 
would  lack  proportion  of  duty  and  balance  of  respective  obligation 
to  the  kingdom,  and  consequently  staying  power. 

They  might  form  a  Federation  through  motives  of  self-interest, 
or  even  of  increasing  efficiency  and  economy  and  the  reduction  of 
ruijious  competition,  with  its  overlapping  of  activities  and  conse- 
quent overlooking  of  thousands  of  lives,  its  yellow  pulpitism  and 
degrading  means  of  raising  money,  but  they  would  fail  to  realize 
the  regeneration  of  a  community.  Whenever  we  have  found  a  man 
with  the  Bible  conception  of  the  kingdom  and  with  a  realization 
of  the  larger  dimensions  of  incarnation  we  have  found  an  ef- 
ficient and  constant  believer  in  Federation. 

In  the  outworking  of  our  Federation  it  was  found  that  a  Fed- 
eration of  denominations  in  the  State  was  not  desirable  until 
enough  local  federations  had  tried  out  the  possibilities  of  our 
method  and  had  developed  a  strong  enough  spirit  to  persistently 
carry  out  our  basic  principles.  The  unit  of  our  State  work  is  the 
local  federation — not  the  denomination,  as  yet.  When  we  shall 
grow  into  a  federation  of  denominations  the  unit  will  still  be  the 
Churches  cooperating  through  a  local  federation  in  the  applica- 
tion of  principles  and  carrying  out  of  plans.  The  local  federa- 
tions realize  more  fully  the  ideas  of  the  kingdom  and  incarna- 
tion than  the  average  life  of  the  Church  is  doing,  and  can  better 
work  them  up  to  permeate  the  whole  State  and  inspire  aU  inter- 
ests. They  bring  together  the  pick  of  Churches  having  the  leas^en 
of  the  kingdom.  The  function  of  the  Churches  is  best  exercised  in 
territorial  federation.  Local  federations  cannot  touch  gambling, 
Sunday  desecration  and  prostitution  when  they  establish  them- 
selves outside  the  boundary  of  a  town.  County  federation  thus 
becomes  a  necessity,  not  only  to  suppress  such  evils,  but  to 
awaken  civic  conscience  and  to  raise  social  and  political  tone  and 


FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    THE    STATES  327 

to  be  a  clearing  house  between  denominations  for  the  exchange 
of  Churches  from  over-supplied  communities  to  places  of  dearth. 

Evils  which  stretch  into  surrounding  counties  and  ramify  like 
cancer  through  the  entire  State  cannot  be  effectively  treated  with- 
out a  State  Federation  to  arouse  the  conscience  and  secure  the 
carrying  into  effect  of  appropriate  legislation.  It  must  integrate 
into  representative  headship,  with  its  commissions  and  committees 
to  study  and  serve. 

This  logically  broadens  into  its  consummation  of  an  Intemar 
tional  Federation,  touching  the  interests  of  all  peoples  and  realiz- 
ing the  subjection  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  unto  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  Christ.  As  States  came  together  to  save 
the  Union,  and  in  so  doing  were  consciously  compacted  into  the 
nation,  so  denominations  coming  together  to  save  the  world  will 
in  so  doing  grow  into  the  conscious  kingdom. 

It  has  been  the  wisdom  of  our  Council  to  organize  only  when 
the  spirit  of  a  community  is  favorable.  So  strong  is  their  faith  in 
Federation  that  they  are  willing  to  spend  years  in  laying  its  foun- 
dations so  that  its  constructive  work  in  the  age  to  come  may 
realize  the  structure  of  God's  Kingdom.  We  are  now  developing 
and  fortifying  and  stimulating  the  spirit  of  existing  federations 
so  they  may  be  nuclei  for  growth  in  their  sections,  object  lessons 
of  our  method  and  working  models  for  their  type  of  Federation. 
In  the  following  four  types  may  be  seen  the  influence  of  our  basic 
ideas  modified  by  local  conditions: 

First.  A  federation  in  a  small  city  has  made  a  canvass  to 
discover  exact  conditions,  organized  a  Sunday  School  association, 
driven  out  slot  machines,  agitated  curfew  law  and  established  a 
settlement  among  the  foreign  population  to  teach  things  per- 
taining to  good  homes  and  citizenship.  Another,  organized  last 
March  in  a  representative  town,  sent  general  invitations,  which 
were  accepted  by  all  except  the  Roman  Catholic,  Seventh  Day 
Baptist  and  the  Lutheran.  It  placed  union  announcements  of 
Church  services  in  all  public  places.  It  arranged  to  have  a  trained 
nurse  to  work  among  the  poor  of  the  town.  Its  civic  committee 
has  brought  to  official  notice  certain  abuses  in  violation  of  laws. 
It  has  directed  a  no-license  campaign,  and  stands  behind  the  town 
and  county  in  enforcement  of  law.  It  uses  the  daily  paper  for 
agitatrag  needed  reform.  It  has  by  a  canvass  discovered  exact 
conditions.     It  is  about  to  organize  a  county  federation.    It  has 


328  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

coordinated  the  County  Bible  School  Afisociation,  and  with  it  will 
employ  a  pastor  at  large  to  give  his  whole  time  to  developing  co- 
operative work  in  the  county. 

The  third,  in  a  large  city,  has  canvassed  the  city  and  divided  it 
into  parishes.  Churches  taking  these  parishes  have  put  in  them 
workers,  who  report  changes  of  families,  cases  of  need  and  viola- 
tions of  law.  In  these  parishes  group  meetings  of  their  Churches 
have  discussed  needs  of  the  city  and  federation  interests.  It  held 
a  two  weeks'  Federation  Revival,  which  greatly  promoted  its  work. 
Held  a  noon  prayer  meeting  for  men.  It  is  using  its  parish  plan 
to  reach  every  individual  in  the  city  with  the  Gospel.  It  is  ar- 
ranging to  employ  a  secretary  to  carry  out  details  of  its  plans. 
One  writes :  "The  Federation  idea  is  being  wrought  out  grandly." 

The  fourth,  in  a  village  of  5,000,  its  canvass  giving  one  church 
eighty  new  families;  has  the  parish  system,  with  one  parish  ar- 
ranging to  teach  foreigners  household  economies  and  good  citi- 
zenship and  develop  social  mixing  of  leaven;  has  used  many  oc- 
casions for  cultivating  intelligent  citizenship;  stopped  open  buy- 
ing and  selling  of  votes;  closed  saloons  on  Sunday;  arranging  a 
school  city  for  good  citizenship;  given  prizes  to  children  for  the 
greatest  improvements  in  back  yards;  planned  a  federation  house; 
developed  librarj'^,  reading  and  recreation  rooms,  social  mixers  in 
men's  dinners  addressed  by  men  of  prominence,  country  club 
house,  choral  union  and  dramatic  association,  its  Churches  min- 
istering in  turn  to  the  inmates  of  the  jail  and  poorhouse.  To 
deepen  spiritual  tone  it  has  held  frequent  union  services  and  ser- 
mons on  a  specific  programme.  It  has  greatly  increased  the  fresh 
air  fund.  Is  now  arranging  for  a  county  federation  to  evangelize  the 
entire  community,  with  secretary  at  large.  It  has  perceptibly  ele- 
vated the  tone  of  the  community.  In  all  of  these  federations  the 
same  purpose  runs,  to  seek  above  all  else  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness  and  to  bring  the  whole  Gospel  to  the  whole 
community  in  all  its  interests,  to  so  distribute  its  agencies  that 
the  leaven  will  be  in  touch  with  every  particle  of  the  mass,  and 
will  persist  in  its  personal  kneading  in  of  life  and  love  till  the 
whole  community  shall  be  leavened.  It  first  makes  a  thorough 
canvass  to  find  out  the  exact  conditions.  From  a  study  of  these 
conditions  it  defines  and  formulates  its  programme.  It  uses  the 
principles  of  division  of  labor  among  the  cooperating  Churches  in 


FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    THE    STATES  329 

the  parish  system,  so  that  the  entire  town  shall  be  ministered  to 
in  a  businesslike  and  efficient  manner,  instead  of  the  ignorant, 
superficial  and  superstitious  ways  so  grotesquely  inadequate  to 
the  situation.  It  values  social  mixers  and  the  use  of  a  secretary 
to  attend  to  details,  and  simultaneous  agitation  of  press  and 
pulpit  to  arouse  civic  conscience;  but  first  and  always,  accurate 
knowledge  of  conditions. 

Back  of  all  activity  in  the  New  York  Federation  is  our  second 
basic  idea.  Incarnation.  I  mean  by  incarnation  the  procession  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  into  the  social  organism.  It  is  founded  u'pon  the 
incarnation  of  Jesus,  who  is  the  beginning  of  the  entrance  of 
Ood  into  humanity.  It  is  taken  up  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  strives 
to  incarnate  Himself  into  every  life.  It  must  continue  until  there 
shall  be  realized  a  divine  humanity  exactly  corresponding  to  the 
divine-human  tyipe,  our  Master,  and  in  which  ultimately  God  shall 
be  all  in  all.  To  secure  the  incarnation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  New 
York  is  the  business  of  all  our  Churches.  It  is  the  source  of  power 
and  life.  Without  it  cooperation  and  Federation  are  merely 
engines  with  no  energy  to  transmit  and  apply.  Disembodied 
spirits,  even  the  Holy  Spirit,  cannot  be  effective  unless  incar- 
nated. Unless  our  Churches  bring  the  incarnate  spirit  into 
every  home  and  touch  the  lowest  fallen  and  the  farthest  away 
outcasts  they  cannot  realize  the  aim  of  the  kingdom.  Never  can 
they  become  a  world  power  unless  they  serve  the  entire  humanity 
in  all  its  spiritual  interests.  The  body  of  Christ  must  to-day  be 
filled  with  His  spirit  to  be  like  Him  and  to  carry  out  the  inten- 
tions of  His  kingdom. 

The  great  law  of  the  kingdom  will  not  be  obeyed  by  Churches 
unless  they  have  God-love  toward  their  fellows.  They  will  not 
have  that  unless  the  Holy  Spirit  is  incarnate  in  them.  Then  they 
will  lose  personality  as  the  greatest  thing  in  the  universe  and 
strive  to  secure  incarnation  in  every  life. 

Because  this  basic  idea  has  been  largely  left  out  of  Church 
movements  we  find  an  absence  of  a  supreme  motive  of  saving 
souls  and  an  indifference  to  those  who  are  not  a  desirable  clientele 
for  building  up  the  Church, 

Has  the  Church  much  influence  in  fixing  social  ethics?  Are 
its  members  trained  to  business  integrity?  Does  it  secure  civic 
and  political  honor  and  honesty?  If  the  Hughes  probe  were  to 
search  our  Church  board  wouldn't  there  be  disclosed  misappro- 


830  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

priation  of  hard  earned  money  in  the  establishment  and  support 
of  institutions  which  do  not  advance  the  interests  of  men  and 
which  impede  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  ?  Why  has  the  Church 
in  cardinal  epochs  failed  to  grasp  the  spiritual  opportunity  ?  Why 
in  the  democratic  evolutions  of  the  last  five  hundred  years  has  it 
always  been  lagging  with  the  moribund  growth  instead  of  being 
a  leader  in  incarnating  the  spirit  into  the  nations?  Why  its 
aloofness  from  the  people  at  large  in  serving  their  highest  inter- 
ests? To-day  New  York  State  has  over  four  million  souls  who 
are  indifferent  to  the  Churches.  Is  there  any  intention  of  the 
Churches  to  try  to  secure  the  incarnation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
these  lives?  Are  the  Churches  adequately  distributing  saving 
agencies  so  as  to  bring  the  Holy  Spirit  into  centres  of  sin  and 
hatred?  If  Churches  aim  first  to  save  sinners,  why  are  their  re- 
vivals so  largely  invocations  of  the  disembodied  spirit?  Why  do 
not  they  hold  services  in  such  places  as  the  Ghetto,  Little  Italy 
and  Hell's  Elitchen? 

When  our  statesmen  of  the  kingdom  and  the  captains  of 
Church  industry  take  up  salvation  seriously  present  methods  will 
go  to  the  scrap  heap.  Only  by  the  adequate  business  methods  of 
a  cooperant  Church  can  we  secure  the  incarnation  of  God  into 
the  entire  community. 

Can  we  serve  the  children  of  New  York  in  the  way  the 
Churches  are  working  independently  of  each  other?  Already 
600,000  of  them  between  four  and  fourteen  years  of  age  have 
drifted  beyond  the  reach  of  Sunday  Schools.  I  cannot  find  love 
enough  of  these  children  to  cause  the  Churches  to  join  hands  in 
pulling  the  drag  net  of  intertwined  influence  over  the  whole  State. 
Only  a  systematic  pull  all  together  can  minister  to  these  children. 
It  will  need  a  strong  pull,  and  will  surely  be  a  long  pull. 

After  the  New  York  City  Federation  was  started  we  made  a 
specialized  class  of  crippled  children  the  object  of  systematic 
search  and  help.  It  was  found  there  were  about  three  thousand  of 
them  living  in  tenements.  A  Eabbi,  a  Unitarian  minister  and 
people  of  various  communions  cooperated  to  save  them.  The 
crippled  God  was  in  many  of  them.  In  the  inclusiveness  of  God- 
love  this  guild  is  responding  to  His  cry  for  help.  Hundreds  of 
pastors  called  in  these  homes,  but  only  upon  those  who  were 
their  parishioners.  They  cared  not  for  these  distorted  and  suffer- 
ing babes  who  did  not  belong  to  their  Church,  and  passed  by  on 
the  other  side. 


FEDERATIVE    WORK    IN    THE    STATES  331 

Do  our  Churches  love  their  country  and  local  community  with 
mind-love?  Our  public  schools  are  shaping  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  chHdren  into  the  spirit  of  American  brotherhood  ajid 
into  good  citizenship.  Are  we  doing  as  much  to  train  them  into  . 
citizenship  of  the  kingdom?  Are  we  bringing  them  into  the 
unity  of  all  lives  inhering  in  the  spirit?  "Our  unhappy  divisions" 
prevent  this.  A  Kussian  Jew  said  to  me :  "How  can  we  believe 
in  your  Jesus  ?  How  many  Jesuses  have  you  ?"  Federation  pre- 
sents the  one  Jesus,  the  one  Father,  the  one  Spirit,  and  the  one- 
ness of  the  kingdom  in  its  variety  of  Churches.  Federation  can 
enable  the  Churches  to  supplement  the  three  functions  of  govern- 
ment in  legislative,  judicial  and  executive  lines  by  their  own 
functions  of  securing  the  incarnation  of  the  spirit  into  the  nation. 
This  will  so  lift  up  the  tone  of  society  that  government  will  rule 
less  and  serve  more. 

By  the  inspiration  of  the  love  which  patiently  works  to  secure 
the  incarnation  of  the  spirit  Churches  can  do  something  worth 
while  in  preventing  crime,  if  they  will  federate.  One  of  our  most 
scientific  criminologists  writes  me  that  with  an  enlightened  civic 
conscience  75  per  cent,  of  crime  could  be  prevented.  That  would 
save  to  our  fellow  taxpayers  nearly  $50,000,000  a  year!  Wouldn't 
that  give  us  the  gratification  of  knowing  that  our  Churches  had 
earned  their  tax  exemption,  because  we  had  served  the  whole 
community?  In  New  York  the  number  of  prisoners  in  custody  in 
October,  1904,  was  11,500.  How  majiy  of  those  more  numerous 
who  have  been  discharged  are  cared  for  by  the  Churches?  Our 
Federation  is  now  arranging  to  follow  up  every  discharged  pris- 
oner, and  by  love  personally  applied  keep  him  from  the  influences 
which  dragged  him  down  and  minister  to  him  for  spiritual,  social 
and  economic  uplift.  How  many  Churches  have  such  a  supreme 
love  for  the  thousands  who  are  on  the  road  to  prison  that  they 
are  willing  to  unite  in  a  systematic  work  along  the  line  of  God's 
law  to  prevent  the  forming  of  criminals?  Nearly  every  criminal 
commits  his  first  crime  before  he  is  eighteen  years  old.  As  soon 
as  the  idea  of  incarnation  obtains  with  more  conviction  Federa- 
tion can  practically  apply  God's  laws  for  the  prevention  of  crim- 
inal character,  such  as  obedience  to  authority,  education,  indus- 
trial training  and  recreation  under  beneficent  social  influences, 
and  so  prevent  the  State  from  the  necessity  of  using  these  same 
factors  for  reformation  under  severe  discipline,  when  it  may  be  too 
late. 


332  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

A  Jew,  a  Unitarian  and  an  Episcopalian  loved  so  much  the  in- 
carnate God  that  they  agitated  year  after  year  for  small  parks 
as  a  means  of  opening  lives  to  the  incoming  spirit.  Not  a  Church 
aided  them.  Was  it  the  business  of  the  Churches  to  leave  the 
Church  work  and  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  help  secure  parks 
for  the  people?  Even  though  these  parks  giving  sunshine,  pure 
air  and  recreation  prevented  the  sin  and  misery  resulting  from 
defective  nervous  organizations  and  anaemic  and  neurotic  con- 
ditions, yet  that  was  not  the  way  the  Churches  would  prevent  sin 
and  misery.  A  lowered  death  rate  and  decreasing  vice,  with  in- 
creasing ability  to  become  upright  citizens,  ought  to  be  at  least 
accessory  to  the  indwelling  of  God's  Spirit. 

Here  is  one  of  the  points  which  show  why  the  New  York 
Federation  does  not  seek  the  adding  together  of  any  kind  of 
Churches,  but  the  cooperation  of  those  which  have  the  spirit  of 
Jesus,  do  not  make  Him  and  His  Gospel  a  fetich  and  do  not 
enshrine  a  dead  Christ,  swathed  in  the  cerements  of  dead  dogmas. 
One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Federation  of  this  city  was  to  secure 
the  granting  of  a  small  park  in  one  of  our  largest  tenement  dis- 
tricts. 

If  the  business  of  the  Churches  is  to  secure  the  extension  of 
God's  kingdom  until  it  shall  rule  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and 
if  the  source  of  power  be  the  incarnation  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
into  every  life  and  every  interest  and  relation,  then  cooperation 
of  all  Churches  is  a  necessity.  A  dismembered  body  of  Christ  can 
never  save  the  world.  If  it  be  objected  that  the  business  of  the 
Churches  is  only  to  inspire  and  stimulate  these  movements  for 
human  uplift,  I  affirm  that  even  this  they  are  not  doing  ade- 
quately, and  would  suggest  that  most  of  the  movements  elevating 
and  advancing  man  have  been  started  by  the  action  of  the  spirit 
stimulating  individuals  to  testify,  suffer  and  die.  In  these  move- 
ments the  Church  has  not  always  helped;  oftener  opposed.  Not- 
withstanding, to-day  men  of  faith  hear  the  discords  in  the  reces- 
sional of  all  forms  of  selfishness  becoming  fainter,  and  losing 
themselves  in  the  harmonies  of  the  processional  of  the  kingdom 
which  are  becoming  clearer  and  more  triumphant  as  the  incoming 
spirit  enters  the  temple  of  humanity,  filling  it  with  love  and  light 
and  life. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK 


The  Rev.  William  I.  Haven,  D.D. 


There  is  something  intense  about  ecclesiasticism.  Its  sense  of 
hostility  to  whatsoever  is  not  of  the  regular  army  seems  ingrained, 
and  this  is  perhaps  its  strength — the  strength  of  its  discipline.  I 
am  not  here  to  combat  it,  for  I  believe,  heart  and  soul,  that  the 
hope  of  the  Church  lies  in  an  intense  and  intelligent  Church  loy- 
alty. We  may,  however,  from  this  Conference  receive  a  wider  vision 
of  the  Church  and  of  what  goes  to  the  make-up  of  the  army  of  the 
Lord. 

This  is  a  very  large  theme,  including,  I  presume,  all  sorts  of 
Seamen's  Friend  Societies,  Port  Societies,  Bethels,  Rescue  Mis- 
sions, United  Charities  movements,  Parks  and  Recreation  activi- 
ties, Fresh-Air  and  Hospital  Funds,  etc. 

The  name  of  these  so-called  interdenominational  organiza- 
tions is  legion,  though  it  is  a  legion  of  angelic  activities  that  is 
at  once  brought  to  mind.  I  suppose,  however,  I  am  justified  in 
referring  especially  to  three  or  four  great  national  organizations 
that  stand  out  conspicuously  as  suggestive  of  the  possibilities  of 
the  federated  activities  of  the  Christian  Churches  of  this  country. 

WiU  you  let  me,  right  at  the  beginning,  make  a  protest  which 
has  long  been  working  within  me,  against  this  phrase  "interde- 
nominational" ?  There  is  another  which  is  even  worse  that  is 
sometimes  used,  namely — undenominational.  Neither  of  these 
words,  interdenominational  or  undenominational,  is  representative 
oi  the  ideal  of  these  great  societies  that  represent  the  practical 
workings  of  federation  so  far  as  their  intention  goes.  If  I  must 
use  the  Latin  form  I  should  much  prefer  omni-denominational, 
or,  if  you  wish  a  more  conservative  and  circumspect  title,  let  me 
call  these  societies  circum-denominational,  rather  than  inter.  The 
prevalent  phrasing,  however,  leans  rather  to  the  Greek  than  to 
the  Latin  form.  We  have  ecumenical  gatherings,  and  pan-Presby- 
terian and  pan-Anglican  conventions,  so  maybe  these  societies 
should  be  called  pan-ecclesiastical  or  pan-ecclesial.  Personally 
I  should  like  to  violate  the  canons  of  the  formation  of  words  and 
call  them  pan-denominational,  fusing  together  both  the  Greek 


334  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

and  the  Latin  forms,  as  perhaps  some  time  even  the  great  Greek 
and  Latin  faiths  may  be  federated  together.  Such  a  distinction, 
omni-denominational,  or  pan-ecclesiastical,  or  pan-denomination- 
al, is  a  true  distinction. 

The  American  Tract  Society,  in  one  of  its  last  statements,  de- 
clares that  its  officers,  friends  and  supporters  have  come  from 
twenty  dijfferent  denominations.  The  American  Bible  Society  is 
now  sending  out  its  appeal  to  between  fifteen  and  twenty  different 
denominations,  and  would  gladly  include  all  as  its  co-laborers  in 
giving  the  Bible  to  the  world.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation and  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  and  all 
these  other  organizations,  are  alike  inclusive  in  proposing  not  to 
interpenetrate  all,  but  to  be  omni-  or  pan-  representative,  the 
servant  of  all — the  true  forerunners  of  the  federated  Church  idea 
which  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  great  gathering  to  advance.  We 
sometimes  forget  how  practically  the  various  Churches  are  work- 
ing together  at  present  in  these  organizations. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  whose  founder  has 
just  died,  is  a  remarkable  illustration.  During  the  lifetime  of  a 
generation  this  organization,  which  George  Williams  started,  in 
North  America  alone  has  accumulated  property  worth  $32,000,000, 
and  expends  annually  for  supervision  and  current  expenses  nearly 
five  millions  of  dollars.  Over  two  thousand  secretaries  and  other 
workers  are  among  its  effective  representatives.  It  is  reaching 
in  a  remarkable  way  railroad  men,  to  the  praise  of  the  railroad 
managers  themselves;  college  men,  so  that  the  religious  interest 
in  our  American  colleges  is  greater  than  ever  before  in  their  his- 
tory; the  army  and  navy,  as  a  moral  tonic  that  is  most  significant; 
and  the  young  men  of  our  larger  cities  and  towns.  It  ought  to 
be  at  once  established  in  every  one  of  the  eight  thousand  cities 
of  the  United  States  having  a  population  of  five  thousand  people 
and  over.  It  has  educational  classes,  and  libraries,  and  lecture 
courses,  and  Bible  classes,  and  evangelistic  services,  and  acts  as 
a  bond  between  the  Churches,  creating  a  central  meeting-place 
belonging  to  all,  bringing  the  men  of  a  community  together  on 
a  high  plane,  giving  the  good  results  of  club  life  without  its  de- 
teriorating effects.  It  is  a  training  school  for  efficiency  in  the  work 
of  the  Church,  as  well  as  in  secular  activities.  Many  Churches 
have  adopted  it  officially  as  their  institutional  branch,  and  have 
placed  its  announcements  on  their  calendars  and  its  sign-boards 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK  335 

on  their  churches  along  with  those  that  are  peculiar  to  their  own 
activities.  It  has  reached  out  into  foreign  lands  and  made  itself 
so  conspicuous  and  successful  among  the  Japanese  troops  as  to 
receive  the  recognition  of  the  Mikado ;  and  we  all  know  what  work 
it  did  in  our  own  camps  in  the  recent  so-called  war  with  Spain, 
and  in  the  Philippines.  Can  any  one  imagine  that  it  could  begin 
to  be  as  effective  if  it  were  not  federated — if  it  did  not  represent 
a  united  body  of  Christian  activity,  having  the  moral  support  of 
the  great  communions! 

The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is  perhaps  an  even 
more  significant  moral  influence.  I  have  sometimes  thought  it 
to  be  the  most  powerful  active  agency  which  exists  in  this  country 
to  keep  vital  the  temperance  sentiment  and  to  oppose  the  auda- 
cious and  fallacious  intrigues  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  its  political 
and  social  aids  and  abettors.  This  militant  host  of  godly  women 
is  as  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners.  Their  organization  is  a 
meeting-place  for  the  earnest  spirits  of  all  the  churches.  It  is 
more  than  a  meeting-place — it  is  a  workshop  of  purity  and  right- 
eousness. We  shall  never  know  until  the  secrets  of  history  are 
revealed  what  has  been  accomplished  by  these  heroic  women, 
who,  not  unmindful  of  their  own  churches,  but  ever  mindful  of 
the  common  interest  of  the  Church  of  God,  wage  a  warfare  that 
is  sleepless.  They  have  purified  our  army  from  the  canteen,  and 
if  their  hands  are  upheld  they  may  prevail  upon  this  nation  to 
give  us  an  army  and  a  navy  as  temperate  and  self-controlled  as 
that  of  imperial  Japan,  which  has  revealed  such  intrepid  valor 
and  astonished  the  world  by  its  immunity  from  disease  and  its 
chivalry.  This  would  not  be  possible  in  our  land  without  the 
federated  action  of  these  women  of  our  churches,  bringing  to 
bear  upon  society  and  government  the  high  ideals  of  the  Pure 
and  Perfect  One,  creating  a  nation  tempered  as  a  Damascus  blade ; 
a  nation  keen,  clear-brained,  restrained — fit  for  the  leadership  of 
the  world. 

But  to  pass  rapidly  to  one  or  two  institutions  that  have  their 
centres  in  this  city,  while  their  lines  have  gone  out  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  let  me  refer  to  the  American  Tract  Society,  which 
has  for  its  aim  nothing  less  than  the  cooperation  of  all  the 
Churches  in  sowing  broadcast  a  spiritual  literature  fitted  for  the 
awakening  and  inspiring  of  all  peoples. 

Sometimes  these  old  names  and  old  ideals  are  so  commonplace 


336  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

to  U8  that  we  fail  to  receive  their  significance.  Eecent  communi- 
cations show  the  attempt  on  the  part  of  a  Christian  literature 
society  in  China  to  impregnate  that  land  with  a  true  philosophy 
and  a  true  spiritual  ideal.  The  story  of  their  work  and  their 
translations  into  the  Chinese  languages  and  the  establishment  of 
a  similar  movement  in  the  western  part  of  China  is  as  fascinating 
as  the  myths  of  early  Greece.  The  harvest  will  be  not  of  war- 
riors, but  of  saints.  But  oh,  how  these  movements  lack  sufficient 
support!  An  earnest  spirit  has  attempted  to  sow  India  deep 
with  verses  of  the  Scriptures,  printing  them  by  the  millions  and 
scattering  them  as  the  leaves  of  the  trees  are  scattered  in  the 
autumn  all  over  that  land  of  mysticism  and  brooding  darkness,, 
of  half  faiths  and  no  faith,  but  again  there  is  lack  of  a  support 
and  backing.  Should  not  this  country,  which  has  already  accom- 
plished such  achievements  through  the  colporteurs  and  agents 
of  this  venerable  society,  gather  about  it  and  unite  in  some  re- 
lation so  that  this  seed-sowing  may  go  mightily  forward? 

I  must  lay  especial  emphasis  upon  the  honorable  society  that 
I  have  the  distinction  to  serve,  the  American  Bible  Society.  It 
is  now  approaching  ninety  years  of  fellowship  with  the  American 
Churches.  During  these  ninety  years  the  men  of  all  the  Churches 
have  been  welcome  in  its  councils,  and  they  have  met  there  as 
brethren,  whatever  may  have  been  the  din  of  sectarian  strife  out- 
side. During  this  period  more  than  thirty-one  millions  of  dollars, 
not  including  trust  funds,  have  been  poured  into  the  treasury  of 
this  society  for  its  far-reaching  work — and  its  issues  in  this 
same  period  have  exceeded  76,000,000.  Four  times  during  its 
history  it  has  attempted  systematically  the  supply  of  every  needy 
home  in  this  country:  once  in  1826,  again  in  1856,  again  in  the 
sixteen  years  from  1866  to  1883,  and  again  in  the  eight  years 
from  1882  to  1890.  In  these  special  efforts  it  has  visited  over 
fifteen  millions  of  families  and  circulated  directly  two  and  one- 
half  million  copies  of  the  Scriptures.  This  latter  figure  makes 
no  mention  of  the  indirect  circulation  from  the  society's  presses, 
which  may  be  estimated  in  part  from  the  statement  that  the  en- 
tire distribution  during  the  last  eight  years  of  its  re-supply  was 
over  8,000,000.  This  last  attempt  to  minister  to  the  needs  of 
this  country  cost  the  society  for  colportage  and  freight  alone 
$404,609.83,  to  say  nothing  of  the  cost  of  the  books  donated. 
During  the  last  decade  in  the  more  settled  portions  of  the  com- 


REV.    BISHOP   W.    F.   McDOWELL, 
D.D.,  LL.D. 


RT.    REV.    OZI    WILLIAM    WHITAKER, 
D.D.,    LL.D. 


JOSEPH    W.    MAUCK,    LL.D. 


REV.   ROBERT   F.   COYLE,   D.D. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK  337 

munity  it  has  left  this  work  of  distrihution  largely  to  its  auxiliary 
societies,  and  has  heeded  the  calls  that  have  become  so  insistent 
from  the  great  foreign  mission  fields  of  the  world.  In  its  pene- 
tration of  foreign  lands  it  has  gone  forward  opening  up  the  way 
of  the  Cross.  When  one  of  its  colporteurs  reached  a  little  village 
on  the  "Blue  Nile,"  the  chief  of  the  village  came  out  and  said, 
"You  have  turned  the  rest  of  the  world  upside  down  and  now  you 
have  come  here." 

The  superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  missions  in 
the  Philippines  says  they  have  not  gone  to  a  single  place  in  the 
Philippines  to  open  preaching  but  what  they  have  had  the  way 
prepared  for  them  by  the  colporteurs  of  this  society.  The  Kev. 
Dr.  Jessup,  on  the  slopes  of  the  Lebanon,  looking  out  over  the 
mission  field  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  and  referring  to  the  work 
of  the  American  Bible  Society,  said,  "It  is  the  plowshare  of  it  all." 

Its  workers  are  the  sappers  and  miners  of  the  divisions  of  the 
Christian  army,  and  it  is  the  supply  department  of  ordnance  as 
well. 

Its  emphasis  is  placed  everywhere  on  the  Common  Book.  What 
unspeakable  folly  it  would  have  been  to  have  had  many  variant 
ecclesiastical  versions  in  the  mission  fields  or  at  home.  Here  the 
Quaker,  and  the  lover  of  the  liturgy,  the  Presbyterian,  the  Con- 
gregationalist,  and  the  Methodist  meet  and  have  met  for  nearly  a 
century  as  brothers,  respecting  each  other's  regimental  colors, 
but,  above  all,  loyal  to  the  banner  of  the  Cross  and  interested 
in  the  great  purpose  of  giving  the  whole  Bible  to  the  whole  world. 

These  societies  fail  sometimes  of  their  highest  possibilities 
because  the  Churches  fail  to  take  them  into  their  closest  fellow- 
ship and  care.  Let  me  refer  to  the  American  Bible  Society,  which 
serves  gladly  all  the  Churches  so  far  as  its  constitutional  limits 
will  allow.  There  are  still  denominations  that,  while  giving  aid 
to  it  through  individuals  and  churches,  do  not  include  its  trans- 
actions in  their  ofiicial  lists.  There  are  others  that  speak  of  and 
support — either  five,  six,  or  seven  societies,  I  will  not  name  the 
exact  figure — who  leave  the  American  Bible  Society  out,  though 
they  helped  to  originate  it,  and  it  is  most  closely  bound  up  with 
all  their  missionary  activities;  and  there  is  a  disposition  on  the 
part  of  others  to  consider  the  work  as  outside  their  regular  work. 
This  should  not  be.  All  the  Churches  should  take,  not  a  per- 
functory but  a  profound  interest  in  these  truly  representative  so- 


338  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

cieties — should  closely  inspect  their  affairs — they  court  such  in- 
spection— should  enthusiastically  support  them  if  found  worthy, 
and  should  as  applaudingly  acclaim  their  achievements  as  a  part 
of  their  ov\ti  victories.  If  they  are  worth  while  at  all  they  are 
as  vital  as  the  ganglia  of  the  nervous  system,  and  should  be 
watched  as  closely  as  a  switchboard,  for  they  are  connecting  links 
in  the  great  enterprises  of  these  mighty  Christian  Churches,  serv- 
LQg  their  common  interests,  and  should  they  fail  confusion  must 
ensue. 

They  do  not  fail,  however.  Their  results  show  that  the  work 
is  almost  frictionless.  Few  purely  denominational  agencies  run 
so  smoothly  as  these  pan-denominational  ones.  There  is  just 
enough  of  restraint  upon  the  representatives  on  these  boards,  and 
just  enough  appreciation  of  their  high  representative  respon- 
sibility, to  produce  the  highest  efficiency  with  the  least  waste. 
Every  word  and  every  argument  counts,  and  the  atmosphere  of 
courtesy  is  provocative  of  the  best  results.  Neither  is  there  lack 
of  energy  and  enthusiasm.  Each  feels  under  some  obligation  to 
contribute  of  his  best.  I  have  never  seen  debates  conducted 
upon  a  higher  plane  than  at  such  official  gatherings.  The  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  could  not  carry  forward  its  business 
with  more  application,  dignity,  and  courtesy  than  are  observed 
regularly,  for  instance,  in  the  monthly  meetings  of  the  Board  of 
Managers  of  the  American  Bible  Society. 

There  is  a  great  economy  of  energy  and  expenditure.  Imagine 
what  it  would  cost  in  time  and  money  to  establish  all  over  this 
country  and  in  all  of  the  missionary  fields  the  machinery  to  run 
denominational  Bible  houses,  and  denominational  Bible  circula- 
tion, denominational  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  and 
denominational  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Unions.  Such  a 
programme  would  be  simply  ruinous  waste,  as  it  would  be  to 
keep  up  in  Manchuria  the  three  or  four  gauges  of  railroad  that 
are  now  there,  and  which  the  Japanese  are  at  once  bringing  into 
conformity  with  the  common  standard.  In  some  of  these  matter:^ 
it  is  already  evident  that  the  world  is  too  small  for  anything  short 
of  federated  activity  to  be  suitable  or  available. 

I  had  only  a  little  while  ago  a  letter  from  a  lady  in  Jerusalem 
asking  me  to  arrange  for  Eussian  Scriptures  to  be  given  to  a  young 
man  who  had  been  a  member  of  the  Greek  Church,  who  was 
working  among  the  Russian  sailors  on  the  warships  at  Port  Said 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK    IN    INDIA  339 

and  the  Suez  Canal.  I  wrote  to  our  representative  in  Constan- 
tinople that  he  might  take  up  this  matter  as  belonging  to  his 
Levant  field,  and  before  a  return  communication  had  been  re- 
ceived the  young  man  called  at  my  office  in  the  Bible  House  and 
said  that  he  was  busy  distributing  tracts  and  other  Christian 
literature  on  behalf  of  the  American  Tract  Society  to  the  immi- 
grants from  Russia  and  other  southern  European  countries  at 
Ellis  Island,  New  York  Harbor.    So  it  goes  on  constantly. 

The  nations  are  drawing  together;  the  world  is  but  one  neigh- 
borhood; and  if  the  Church  of  God  is  to  rise  to  its  vast  oppor- 
tunities it  must  work  out  ideals  of  federated  service  as  indi- 
cated in  part  along  lines  that  have  already  been  significantly 
opened  up  by  these  great  all-inclusive  societies. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK    IN    INDIA 


The  Rev.  Bishop  J.  M.  Thoburn,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


A  few  years  ago  an  extraordinary  spectacle  was  witnessed  in 
China,  a  spectacle  which  for  a  time  attracted  and  absorbed  the 
attention  of  the  world.  Five  small  armies,  each  representing  one 
of  the  European  powers,  one  body  of  Japanese  and  one  of  American 
troops,  had  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  going  to  the  relief  of  the 
imperilled  foreigners  in  Peking.  Seven  nations  were  represented, 
but  the  force  was  not  large,  and  the  task  to  be  accomplished  was 
beset  with  difficulties  and  dangers  of  many  kinds.  Success  was 
by  no  means  certain,  and  the  whole  civilized  world  looked  on  with 
painful  suspense.  Could  the  soldiers  reach  Peking?  If  they  did 
reach  the  place,  could  they  force  an  entry  and  rescue  the  imperilled 
men  and  women  who  were  watching,  praying,  for  their  speedy 
coming?  What  line  of  march  should  they  take?  What  plans 
should  they  adopt  to  force  an  entry  into  the  city?  How  create 
and  maintain  a  commissariat?  A  dozen  questions,  all  practical 
and  indeed  painfully  so,  were  discussed  not  only  on  the  spot  but 
all  over  Europe  and  America.  This  little  force  must  be  vnsely 
directed,  and  every  possible  resource  used  promptly  and  coura- 
geously. 


340  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

In  this  crisis  one  thought  suggested  itself  to  every  soldier  and 
observer,  as  if  all  were  moved  by  a  common  instinct.  There  must 
be  one  supreme  leader.  Organization  must  provide  against 
disorder  and  make  effective  action  possible.  The  needed  action 
was  taken,  the  chief  commander  selected,  alignments  made,  a  line 
of  march  chosen,  and  the  little  force  so  directed  that  in  a  few  weeks 
it  began  to  be  realized  in  the  East  that  the  Western  world  was 
moving  against  the  Chinese  Empire. 

In  that  same  China  another  and  greater  contest  is  going  on  at 
the  present  hour.  It  is  a  contest  between  the  agencies  of  light  and 
those  of  darkness.  Here  and  there  may  be  found  a  little  band  of 
Christian  disciples,  representing  the  world's  Saviour,  striving  to 
overthrow  the  powers  of  evil,  and  bring  in  the  reign  of  righteous- 
ness and  peace.  The  outer  world  takes  little  note  of  this  contest, 
but  to  every  man  of  vision  it  presents  itself  clearly  as  one  of  the 
most  momentous  struggles  which  have  ever  challenged  the  courage 
and  faith  of  the  Christian  world.  Not  only  China  and  all  Asia, 
but  indeed  the  whole  non-Christian  world,  is  concerned  in  this 
impending  struggle.  The  Christian  invaders  are  very  few — one 
to  every  four  hundred  thousand  of  the  opposing  host — and  they 
cannot  afford  to  neglect  the  slightest  advantage.  What  can 
strengthen  their  position,  what  do  they  need  in  the  way  of  organi- 
zation? What  will  invigorate  them  with  new  life,  inspire  them 
with  courage,  increase  their  faith  and  hasten  their  assured  triumph  ? 
These  questions  suggest  their  own  answer — united  effort,  concerted 
action,  a  common  host  to  represent  a  common  cause.  No  one  will 
misunderstand  these  terms.  Of  course,  I  do  not  mean  that  the 
missionaries  shall  all  assemble  at  a  single  point,  or  that  they  shall 
unite  in  a  single  organization  or  church,  or  that  they  shall  all 
employ  the  same  methods.  The  seven  militant  powers  which  were 
represented  in  the  march  on  Peking  did  not  waste  any  time  in  talk- 
ing of  political  union.  As  nations  they  reserved  their  rights  and 
responsibilities,  but  on  the  field  they  united  their  forces  and  pressed 
forward  to  accomplish  the  specific  object  of  overthrowing  the  hos- 
tile forces  around  Peking  and  rescuing  the  heroic  band  of  men  and 
women  whose  lives  were  in  imminent  danger. 

The  missionaries  in  the  world's  great  fields  are  in  no  personal 
danger,  but  they  are  struggling  under  crushing  burdens;  they  are 
attempting  impossible  tasks ;  they  are  confronting  formidable  prob- 
lems ;  they  are  sketching  the  boundary  lines  of  Christian  empires — 
they  are,  in  short,  summoning  the  aid  of  forces  which  are  to  revo- 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK    IN    INDIA  341 

lutionize  the  world,  and  above  all  other  living  men  they  need  every 
advantage  which  organized  cooperation  can  give  them.  Let  no 
one  for  a  moment  be  startled  by  such  a  suggestion.  The  seven 
militant  powers  that  united  their  forces  in  the  Peking  expedition 
did  not  merge  their  separate  nationalities  into  one  empire.  Their 
statesmen  were  too  practical  to  attempt  such  a  thing.  They  united 
their  forces  in  the  field  for  a  definite  purpose,  but  ignored  all  ques- 
tions of  nationality,  and  were  too  desperately  in  earnest  to  find  time 
for  even  the  discussion  of  impracticable  schemes. 

It  is  too  early  to  decide  questions  which  belong  to  the  ultimate 
organization  of  Christian  empires  in  the  great  mission  fields  of  the 
world,  but  it  is  not  too  soon  to  provide  for  plans  of  united  effort 
for  the  effective  distribution  of  missionary  forces,  for  the  creation 
of  Christian  literature,  for  the  foimdation  of  Christian  institutions 
adapted  to  the  common  wants  of  all  Christians  though  bearing  dif- 
ferent names  and  coming  from  different  lands.  The  very  mention 
of  such  an  organization  may  startle  some  people,  for  wild  talk  on 
the  subject  has  been  heard  at  times  in  the  past,  and  some  attempts 
at  imion  have  ended  in  dismal  failure,  but  in  most  cases  such 
attempts  have  been  misdirected.  The  difference  between  corporate 
union  and  concerted  action  has  not  been  kept  clearly  in  view.  The 
question  of  a  common  statement  of  doctrine  is  not  even  to  be  men- 
tioned. The  rights  and  privileges  of  existing  churches  are  not 
involved.  The  practical  and  vital  question  at  issue  is  that  of  united 
action.  It  is  useless  even  to  discuss  the  question  of  a  framework 
for  an  ecclesiastical  structure  wide  enough  to  embrace  all  the  Chris- 
tians of  India.  Great  ecclesiastical  organizations  are  not  made; 
they  grow.  The  busy  men  of  to-day  have  other  and  better  work 
to  do  than  to  attempt  impracticable  and  fruitless  tasks,  but  they 
can  do  much  in  the  way  of  cooperation  and  in  the  cultivation  of 
a  fraternal  spirit  worthy  of  the  age  and  of  the  work  in  which  they 
are  engaged. 

If  I  may  be  permitted  to  refer  to  a  somewhat  notable  example, 
I  will  mention  the  Decennial  Missionary  Conference  of  India  as  an 
organization  which  has  accomplished  something  in  the  direction  in- 
dicated, and  which  is  steadily  gaining  in  influence.  Starting  in 
1872  as  an  informal  convention,  it  has  now  become  a  delegated 
body  and  seems  to  have  in  it  both  the  promise  and  potency  of  the 
kind  of  representative  body  for  which  the  great  mission  fields  of  the 
world  call.     It  demonstrates  the  fact  that  missionaries  can  unite 


342  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

without  jeopard}^  to  any  reserved  interest,  and  yet  with  signal 
advantage  to  many  interests  which  are  common  to  all. 

The  missionaries  of  the  world  are  increasing  rapidly  in  num- 
ber, and  every  token  indicates  that  the  ratio  of  increase  will  advance 
rather  than  recede  in  the  immediate  future.  The  time  for  intelli- 
gent and  courageous  missionary  action  has  come.  The  gates  of 
nearly  all  the  nations  have  been  thrown  open  wide  to  us.  God 
forbid  that  we  should  shrink  from  entering  these  gates,  and  when 
we  do  enter,  when  India  and  China  and  Africa  shall  have  five 
thousand  missionaries  each,  and  other  countries  five  thousand  more, 
it  will  double  the  strength  and  effectiveness  of  the  mighty  host  if 
all  can  be  organized  for  concerted  action.  A  common  love  moves 
them  to  action,  a  common  hope  inspires  them  and  assures  them  of 
victory,  and  if  a  supreme  effort  is  made  to  keep  in  touch  with  the 
Leader  and  Commander  of  the  Lord's  host  they  cannot  become  sep- 
arated from  one  another.  We  all  believe  in  a  good  time  coming 
when  all  the  believers  of  the  earth  shall  in  very  deed,  in  outward 
life  as  well  as  in  the  inward  spirit,  become  one  in  Jesus  Christ. 
May  God  hasten  that  day  of  joy !  But  when  it  does  come,  and  the 
historian  of  the  future  sits  down  to  write  the  story  of  its  consum- 
mation, I  venture  to  say  that  he  will  place  on  record  the  statement 
that  under  God  the  chief  agency  in  hastening  the  hallowed  con- 
summation was  the  influence  of  the  great  missionary  movement  of 
the  twentieth  century. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK   IN    THE 
PHILIPPINES 


The  Rev.  James  B.  Rodgers,  D.D. 


Protestant  missions  in  the  Philippine  Islands  date  from  1899, 
when  the  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches  began 
their  work,  although  the  first  regular  appointee  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  did  not  arrive  until  March  of  1890.  In  May 
of  1900  the  first  missionary  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Union  also 
arrived. 

The  conditions  that  confronted  the  evangelical  missions  in  the 
Philippine  Islands  at  that  time  were  peculiar.  The  Eoman  Church, 
to  whom  credit  must  be  given  for  the  great  work  that  she  did  do,  as 
well  as  withheld  for  the  great  work  she  left  undone,  was  an  ex- 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK  IN   THE  PHILIPPINES  343 

ample  of  both  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  oneness.  The 
Filipinos  could  appreciate  nothing  of  that  unity  which  permits  a 
wide  diversity  in  non-essentials,  but  naturally  thought  that  the 
Protestant  Church  was  one,  as  the  Eoman  had  been  one.  It  is 
true  that  the  history  of  Roman  comity  in  the  islands  had  been 
marked  by  most  bitter  wrangles  between  the  different  Roman  de- 
nominations. Augustinian  and  Dominican  fought  bitterly,  and 
then,  with  the  Franciscans,  fought  desperately  to  keep  the  Jesuits 
out.  It  has  been,  therefore,  perfectly  proper  for  me  to  say,  as  our 
Secretary,  Dr.  Brown,  did  to  the  Spanish  Bishop  of  Jaro,  "Our 
differences  are  no  greater  than  those  of  different  Catholic  denom- 
inations in  the  islands." 

In  1901,  when,  under  the  leadership  of  Sr.  Buencamino  and 
others,  what  promised  to  be  a  widespread  movement  toward  evan- 
gelical Christianity  began  in  Tondo,  he  announced  that  it  was 
therefore  the  purpose  of  the  leaders  to  found  a  Methodist  Church 
under  the  management  of  myself,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  and 
cabled  to  Bishop  Potter  for  his  blessing. 

Naturally,  the  Protestant  missions  had  to  live  up  to  this  repu- 
tation and  unite,  federate  and  combine,  anything  to  show  in  visible 
and  patent  form  the  real  unity  of  the  Church. 

In  the  early  ministers'  meetings  in  Manila  there  was  much  dis- 
cussion as  to  the  practicability  of  some  scheme  of  federation  or 
union  between  the  different  missions.  The  writer  read  a  paper 
before  the  meeting  in  1900  calling  attention  to  the  splendid  op- 
portunity offered  in  this  new  field  for  the  carrying  out  of  modern, 
up-to-date  methods  of  union  and  cooperation.  It  was  felt  by 
all  that  it  would  be  a  sin  against  the  unity  of  Christ's  Church 
if  we  allowed  the  division  in  modern  Protestantism  to  be  perpet- 
uated in  the  Philippine  Islands.  No  practical  conclusion  was 
reached,  however,  at  that  time,  and,  indeed,  it  seemed  as  though 
none  could  be  reached,  but  in  April,  1901,  there  were  present  in 
Manila  Bishop  Frank  W.  Warne,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and 
Dr.  J.  C.  R.  Ewing,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  both  of  India, 
who  were  armed  with  special  authority  from  their  boards  to  guide 
and  help  the  new  missions.  With  much  trepidation  a  meeting  was 
called  to  consider  the  practicability  of  church  union  or  federation. 
After  much  prayer  and  discussion,  an  agreement  was  reached  and 
in  due  time  a  plan  that  was  sane  and  sensible  was  worked  out  and 
adopted  by  the  three  missions  then  represented,  the  missionaries 
of  the  United  Brethren  Church  having  arrived  three  months  be- 


344  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

fore.  The  Baptist  Mission,  although  not  represented  at  the  con- 
ference, agreed  to  the  plan  afterward,  and  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  and  the  two  Bible  societies  were  also  included.  An 
association  called  the  Evangelical  Union  was  formed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  promoting  comity  and  efficiency  in  the  work  of  the  evan- 
gelical missions  in  the  islands.  At  a  later  meeting  comity  was 
officially  interpreted  to  mean  the  sincere  recognition  of  the  doc- 
trines, discipline  and  ordinances  of  each  Church,  and  a  spirit  of 
fraternal  helpfulness  in  planning  for  and  doing  the  work  of  the  mis- 
sions. It  was  resolved  as  far  as  possible  to  use  a  common  name 
for  all  denominations  represented — Iglisia  Evangelica.  When 
necessary,  the  denominational  name  could  be  used  in  parenthesis, 
together  with  the  common  name.  Efficiency  was  interpreted  to 
mean  mutual  conference  as  to  method  and  no  duplication  of  the 
general  agencies  of  work,  such  as  presses,  schools  and  hospitals,  so 
that  no  money  be  wasted  in  vain  rivalry.  In  the  direct  evangel- 
istic work  efficiency  spelled  a  division  of  the  territory  to  be  evan- 
geUzed  into  convenient  sections,  each  mission  to  be  responsible 
for  the  evangelization  of  a  definite  section.  This  was  possible, 
because  the  work  of  the  mission  was  in  its  incipiency  and  the  lines 
of  service  had  not  as  yet  become  crossed  and  tangled.  This  latter 
compact  for  the  division  of  territory  was  made  for  three  years. 
At  the  end  of  that  time,  in  1904,  it  was  agreed  to  continue  this 
arrangement  indefinitely,  and  a  special  provision  was  made  for  any 
change  which  might  be  demanded  by  new  conditions  in  the  field 
or  in  the  missions. 

The  control  of  affairs  in  the  Evangelical  Union  is  in  the 
hands  of  an  executive  committee,  consisting  of  two  delegates  from 
each  mission,  to  which  are  referred  all  questions  concerning  mutual 
relation  which  cannot  be  decided  by  the  parties  intimately  con- 
cerned. Since  the  formation  of  the  Union,  in  1901,  three  new 
missions  have  entered  the  field  and  have  been  invited  to  join  the 
Union.  The  American  Board's  Mission  joined  the  Union,  as 
did  also  those  of  the  Disciples'  Mission,  the  latter,  however,  mak- 
ing the  condition  that  their  consent  to  the  principles  of  the  Union 
be  left  in  abeyance  imtil  later.  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Mission, 
under  Bishop  Brent,  has  refused  to  join  the  Union  formally,  but 
has  respected  its  principles  of  comity  and  division  of  territory,  as 
they  have  sent  their  men  into  unoccupied  fields  only. 

The  question  to  be  discussed  this  afternoon  concerns  the  prac~ 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK  IN   THE  PHILIPPINES  345 

tical  working  of  this  Union,  rather  than  the  reasons  for  its  exist- 
ence. 

In  order  to  have  a  consensus  of  opinion  as  to  its  practical 
success,  some  months  ago  I  addressed  letters  to  the  leaders  of  the 
different  missions  in  the  Philippines.  The  Rev.  Homer  C.  Stunz, 
D.  D.,  the  superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Mission  writes  as 
follows : 

I  heartily  agree  that  the  formation  of  the  Union  has  promoted  etll- 
ciency  in  our  worlj  as  well  as  a  more  fraternal  feeling  among  our 
workers. 

Rev.  H.  W.  Widdoes,  superintendent  of  the  Mission  of  the 
United  Brethren,  says : 

I  heartily  agree  with  you  that  the  Evangelical  Union  has  promoted 
a  fraternal  feeling  between  the  dififerent  missions  and  greater  efficiency 
in  their  service.     I  am  loyal  to  the  Union. 

Rev.  C.  W.  Briggs,  one  of  the  senior  members  of  the  Baptist 
Mission,  says : 

Our  federation  scheme  has  certainly  promoted  brotherly  love  and 
compelled  frank,  fraternal  discussion  and  settlement  of  matters  that 
would  otherwise  have  made  more  trouble  than  has  been  the  case. 
Efficiency  has  also  been  promoted.  But  I  believe  that  the  principles  of 
federation  are  better  and  higher  than  the  compliance  with  them  thus  far 
by  any  mission.  It  may  be  that  the  principles  of  union  are  a  bit  in 
advance  of  what  is  i)ossible  just  yet 

Rev.  J.  Andrew  Hall,  M.  D.,  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission, 
heartily  agrees  with  the  principles  that  have  been  enunciated,  but 
does  not  feel  that  either  brotherly  love  or  efficiency  has  been  as 
great  as  could  be  desired. 

I  regret  that  there  has  not  been  time  to  receive  an  answer 
from  the  Right  Rev.  Charles  H.  Brent,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 

I  must  frankly  confess  that  there  have  been  some  difficulties 
encountered  in  the  carrying  out  of  this  plan.  It  has  been  difficult 
for  some  of  us  to  get  into  the  state  of  mind  of  which  Bishop 
Levering,  of  the  Moravian  Church,  spoke  this  morning — ^'^of 
really  believing  that  another  Church  can  give  the  people  as  true 
an  idea  of  Christianity  as  we  can."  This  has  been  the  point  of 
greatest  trouble.  In  one  case  only  a  Mission  has  gone  so  far  as  to 
receive  members  from  another  Protestant  Church  without  letters 
of  dismissal. 


346  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Other  difficulties  have  concerned  the  detail  of  the  work.  The 
Baptists  and  ourselves  have  not  seen  eye  to  eye  in  regard  to  cer- 
tain extension  into  unoccupied  fields.  Before  this  assembly  I 
do  not  dare  to  say  which  is  right.  We  are  both  ashamed  of  our 
disagreement.  There  have  been  other  similar  questions  in  other 
cases,  which  has  not  seriously  affected  the  true  unity  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  in  the  islands. 

At  times  the  suggestion  has  been  made  that  such  a  pact  as  this 
can  easily  become  an  irritation,  and  that  in  future  years  there 
will  be  danger  of  its  proving  to  be  a  galling  restraint  on  the  true 
expansion  of  each  Church.  Personally,  I  do  not  feel  that  this 
danger  exists. 

I  have  spoken  thus  frankly  of  the  difficulties  that  have  appeared 
in.  the  practical  working  of  our  plan  in  order  that  I  might  present 
a  perfectly  fair  statement.  These  difficulties  are,  in  most  cases, 
merely  incidental,  and  in  no  wise  concern  the  essential  elements 
of  our  united  service,  and  if  God  continues  to  bless  us  as  He  has 
in  the  past  I  am  sure  that  every  shadow  will  disappear. 

I  gladly  pass  to  the  story  of  the  real  successes  of  the  Union, 
The  compact  as  to  the  division  of  territory  has  been  faithfully 
kept  by  those  who  have  agreed  to  it.  When  the  Presbyterian  mis- 
sionaries have  received  notice  of  some  opening  in  the  territory  of 
other  missions  they  have  been  prompt  to  refer  the  same  to  the 
mission  interested,  and  the  same  treatment  has  been  accorded  to 
them  by  the  other  missions. 

The  agreement  as  to  the  use  of  a  common  name  has  not  been 
so  generally  kept  as  some  of  us  would  have  wished,  but  as  we 
have  the  reality  of  the  united  spirit  we  have  not  felt  the  need  of 
urging  compliance  with  the  details. 

Four  years  have  passed  away,  and  the  Union  has  given  abund- 
ant evidence  that  it  is  a  practical  working  scheme  of  church  fed- 
eration. The  results  which  have  been  obtained  by  the  missions 
are  in  large  part  due,  I  believe,  to  the  special  blessing  which  we 
have  received  by  obeying  Christ's  command  that  we  be  one.  Dur- 
ing six  years'  work  the  missions  have  gathered  over  twelve  thou- 
sand full  members  and  an  equal  number  of  probationers  as  ad- 
herents. Churches  have  sprung  up  spontaneously  all  over  the 
islands.  Instead  of  the  missionaries  having  to  seek  and  knock  and 
wait  at  closed  doors  of  opportunity,  the  gates  have  been  flung 
wide  open.  From  among  the  Filipinos  a  large  company  of  effi- 
cient evangelists  and  preachers  has  been  raised  up  of  men  who  are 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK  IN   THE  PHILIPPINES  347 

untiring  in  their  eii'orts  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  their  fellow  coun- 
trymen. Eelieved  from  that  unholy  ambition  which  strives  to 
outdistance  a  rival  church,  our  missions  push  rapidly  forward,  each 
in  its  own  territory,  and  spread  the  Gospel  far  and  wide  to  an 
eager,  hungry  people.  So  well  has  this  plan  for  the  division  of 
territory  worked  that  the  Islands  of  Luzon  and  Panay,  Negros  and 
Cebu  are  dotted  with  the  evangelical  churches  which  scarcely  know 
there  is  more  than  one  Protestant  Church.  Manila  is  the  only  city 
which  has  more  than  one  Protestant  denomination  represented,  and 
that  was  by  agreement.  Iloilo  and  Vigan  both  have  two  missions, 
but  they  work  in  opposite  directions  from  both  centres. 

The  plan  followed  has  proved  practical,  sane  and  simple.  It 
has  commended  the  work  of  our  Mission  to  the  community  jiist 
outside  the  active  work  of  the  churches.  One  gentleman  mani- 
fested his  approval  by  gifts  aggregating  a  thousand  dollars  for 
special  Union  and  Church  work.  He  frankly  said  at  the  time  that 
had  it  not  been  for  our  wisdom  in  promoting  this  association  lie 
would  not  have  given  this  money. 

The  Union  has  proved  a  convenient  body  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  special  evangelistic  services  in  the  different  cities.  It 
carried  out  the  details  of  the  campaign  of  Dr.  Pentecost  in  the 
winter  of  1902-'03.  It  organizes  and  conducts  the  Thanksgiving 
services  held  each  year  in  Manila,  the  only  religious  service  of 
the  year  attended  by  large  numbers  of  the  Americans  in  the  com- 
munity. The  Union  has  also  proved  a  convenient  instrument 
for  voicing  the  sentiments  of  Christian  people  on  civil  and  moral 
questions.  We  have  carefully  avoided  an  attitude  of  petty  crit- 
icism, but  have  striven  to  assist  the  government  in  the  projects 
which  affect  the  moral  conditions  of  the  people.  The  Union  has 
aided  in  securing  legislation  in  regard  to  the  marriage  relation. 
Two  years  ago  the  Union  fought  and  defeated  the  project  of  the 
government  for  farming  out  the  opium  traffic.  It  did  this  by 
arousing  public  sentiment,  both  in  the  islands  and  in  the  United 
States,  and  by  the  aid  of  the  cogent  reasoning  of  its  representa- 
tive on  this  occasion,  the  Rev.  Homer  C.  Stunz,  D.  D.,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Mission. 

Perhaps  it  is  too  much  to  say  that  the  organization  of  the 
Evangelical  Union  in  the  Philippine  Islands  has  had  a  control- 
ling influence  in  forwarding  the  organization  of  similar  associa- 
tions in  other  mission  fields,  but  since  our  organization  four  years 
ago  a  practical  scheme  cf  federation  has  been  adopted  in  Brazil, 


348  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

and  is  now  being  started  in  Korea,  and  the  existence  of  the  Phil- 
ippine Union  has  certainly  not  impaired  the  union  movements 
within  the  bounds  of  single  denominations  in  India  and  China. 

But  the  greatest  blessing  that  the  Union  has  brought  to  our 
missions  has  been  that  of  unity  of  spirit.  Petty  jealousies  between 
missions  and  missionaries  have  never  dared  to  show  themselves 
outside  of  the  secret  places  of  the  heart.  There  has  been  full  and 
free  consultation  as  to  ways  and  means,  as  to  difficulties  and  per- 
plexities, in  the  management  of  the  work,  and  mutual  congratu- 
lation in  its  successes. 

That  diplomacy  which  causes  Christian  workers  to  hide  their 
plans  for  fear  that  some  one  would  get  ahead  of  them,  has  had 
no  place.  We  are  in  truth  a  band  of  Christian  brethren  working 
in  true  fellowship  for  the  advancement  of  the  Lord's  kingdom. 

Still  further,  the  Union  has  quenched  almost  entirely  that 
worst  of  firebrands  in  the  foreign  field,  sectarianism  among  the 
natives.  We  Americans,  perhaps,  have  enough  of  God's  spirit 
to  love  our  fellow  Christian  who  bears  another  name.  Not  so 
with  the  native,  who  is  just  out  of  the  darkness  of  heathenism, 
or  the  semi-obscurity  of  such  lands  as  ours,  and  who  is  not  able 
to  distinguish  between  essentials  and  unimportant  differences  of 
form  or  government,  and  who  will  invariably  overestimate  trifling 
matters.  The  existence  of  the  Union  has  nearly  prevented  this 
attitude,  because  it  shows  them  that  we  are  one  Church  under 
different  names.  So  our  people  change  from  one  Church  to  an- 
other, in  Luzon,  as  they  remove  their  residence,  with  no  more 
difficulty  than  if  the  Churches  were  of  one  denomination. 

What  shall  the  future  be?  We  shall,  in  the  first  place,  seek 
to  carry  out  the  plans  now  under  consideration  for  a  common 
literature.  We  use  a  common  Spanish  hymnal,  published  by 
the  American  Tract  Society,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  use  the  same 
hymns  in  the  dialects.  We  plan  for  the  issue  of  a  common  Sunday 
School  paper,  and  perhaps  a  general  periodical  for  all.  Another 
committee  is  studying  the  question  of  educational  needs  of  the 
country,  taking  into  consideration  especially  the  question  as  to 
the  part  that  the  mission  should  play  in  the  education  of  the 
Filipinos;  how  far  the  missions  need  to  supplement  the  work  of 
the  government  bureau  of  education.  This  committee  is  also 
charged  with  the  duty  of  studying  the  practicability  of  a  uni- 
versity under  evangelical  influence. 

Still  further  the  question  arises:  What  shall  be  the  future 


INTEBDENOMI^'ATIONAL    WORK  IN   THE  PHILIPPINES  349 

of  our  Filipino  Churclies  ?  They  are  being  trained  in  the  Scriptures 
and  in  self-government,  and  in  independence  of  thought  and  ac- 
tion. Shall  they  grow  into  so  many  separate  denominations,  or 
shall  they  by  natural  growth,  blessed  and  guided  by  God's  Spirit, 
merge  their  identity  into  one  evangelical  Church  which  will  be 
the  guardian  of  truth  in  the  archipelago?  Such  was  the  dream 
of  the  writer  when  the  scheme  was  first  proposed  in  the  fall  of 
1900.  Plans  under  consideration  in  Korea  lead  us  to  hope  that 
similar  blessings  may  in  time  crown  our  work.  God  grant  that 
no  fancied  denominational  loyalty  here  in  the  United  States  pre- 
vent the  working  out  of  the  best  plans  for  the  advancement  of 
His  kingdom  in  the  Pearl  of  the  Orient. 

The  following  resolutions  were  adopted  by  the  Evangelical 
Union,  January,  1904: 

In  order  that  there  may  be  a  clearer  understanding  of  the  purpose 
of  the  Union  and  the  meaning  of  the  word  "comity"  as  used  in  Article 
2  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Union,  be  it  resolved  that  each  mission  and 
society  represented  in  this  Union  do  hereby  pledge  themselves  to  the 
following  resolutions: 

1.  That  we  recognize  and  respect  the  discipline,  polity  and  doctrine 
of  every  other  evangelical  Church  and  we  will  inculcate  in  the  churches 
under  our  care  the  same  recognition  and  respect 

2.  That  no  members  be  received  from  other  churches  without 
proper  certification  from  their  pastors. 

3.  Not  to  engage  the  services  of  any  member  or  licensed  worker 
of  any  other  Church  without  mutual  agreement  of  the  missionaries  in 
charge. 

4.  That  in  medical,  educational,  publishing  and  literary  interests, 
we  strive  to  avoid  duplication  of  agencies  in  the  same  field. 

5.  That  hereafter  any  question  as  to  the  occupation  of  any  terri- 
tory by  any  mission  or  missions,  or  any  alteration  or  readjustment  of 
lines  already  agreed  upon,  shall  be  decided  by  the  missions  interested 
in  such  occupation,  alteration  or  readjustment.  In  case  of  disagree- 
ment, the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Evangelical  Union  at  its  annual 
session  or  at  a  special  meeting  called  with  not  less  than  two  months' 
notice,  shall  serve  as  a  Board  of  Reference,  whose  decision  shall  be 
respected  by  the  missions  directly  interested  after  receiving  the  ap- 
proval of  their  respective  Boards. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK    IN    CHINA 
AND    KOREA 


The  Rev.  Joshua  C.  Garritt 


1.  Korea.  The  rapid  fruits  of  mission  work  in  Korea  have 
surprised  the  Churches  of  Christendom.  This  field  stands  second 
to  Uganda,  in  North  Africa,  in  the  speedy  growth  of  a  large  and 
well  instructed  body  of  Christians.  The  most  remarkable  charac- 
teristic of  the  work  is  perhaps  the  evangelistic  spirit  of  the  con- 
verts, who  from  the  time  they  are  admitted  to  the  catechumenate 
become  preachers  of  the  Word  to  friends,  neighbors  and  relatives. 
Their  earnestness  in  such  propagation  of  the  truth  is  by  many  mis- 
sionaries made  a  test  of  the  reality  of  their  religion,  and  of  the 
propriety  of  receiving  them  to  the  communion  of  the  Church. 

All  missions  have  attempted  to  profit  by  the  lessons  of  the  work 
in  other  countries  in  three  respects: 

First — The  division  of  field  among  the  missions. 

Second — Flexibility  of  government  and  polity  in  the  infant 
church. 

Third — Education  from  the  first  in  self-support,  self-govern- 
ment and  self-propagation. 

There  has  been  a  good  degree  of  harmony  among  all  the  mis- 
sions from  the  first.  Particularly  has  cooperation  within  each 
family  of  missions  been  the  rule.  There  has  for  years  been  a 
Council  of  Presb}i;erian  Missions,  consisting  of  missionaries  of  the 
Northern  and  Southern  Churches  of  the  United  States  and  the 
Canadian  and  Australian  Presbyterian  Missions.  The  Methodist 
Episcopal  Missions,  North  and  South,  have  also  cooperated  in  a 
similar  way.  By  these  means  a  careful  division  of  field  has  been 
made  and  maintained.  But  even  so,  there  were  occasional  diffi- 
culties, and  the  Korean  converts  themselves  have  found  it  hard  to 
understand  the  difference  in  denominations.  It  is  in  all  mission 
fields  disastrous  to  the  spirituality  of  the  Christians  to  have  before 
them  the  idea  of  different  denominations  working  near  each  other, 
and  affording  a  means  of  turning  from  one  communion  to  another 
in  case  of  dissatisfaction. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL  WORK  IN  KOREA  351 

The  Methodist  Council  in  June,  1905,  expressed  an  earnest  de- 
sire for  wider  relation  among  the  evangelistic  missions  in  Korea. 
The  desire  for  this  union  appeared  to  be  upon  all  hearts ;  and  dis- 
cussions which  took  place  in  Seoul  among  representatives  of  many 
missions  clearly  showed  a  remarkable  preparedness  for  union  of  the 
converts  of  all  missions  in  one  Christian  Church.  In  Korea  a  mass 
meeting  of  missionaries  was  held,  and  various  missions  were  asked 
to  appoint  committees  to  consider  the  subject  of  union.  On  Septem- 
ber 11,  1905,  the  representatives  of  the  two  Methodist  Episcopal 
and  the  four  Presbyterian  IMissions  met  and  unanimously  voted  in 
favor  of  union.  A  General  Council  of  Evangelical  Missions  was 
constituted,  and  this  Council  met  on  Friday,  September  15. 

The  authority  of  the  Council  was  determined  to  be  advisory 
only  and  with  such  other  powers  as  may  be  delegated  to  it  by  the 
missions  composing  the  Council  when  all  the  missions  themselves 
agree.  So  soon  as  the  arrangements  for  this  Council  shall  have 
been  definitely  determined  on  by  the  missions  concerned,  the  denom- 
inational councils  now  existing  will  turn  over  their  powers  to  the 
General  Council,  and  the  latter  will  proceed  with  the  organization 
of  one  native  Korean  church. 

Meanwhile,  practical  results  which  are  already  achieved  are 
the  union  of  periodicals,  Sunday  School  lessons,  etc. ;  the  union  of 
the  Wells  Memorial  Training  School  of  the  Northern  Presbyterian 
Mission  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Pai  Chai  (intermediate 
school  for  boys),  the  union  of  the  Pyeng  Yang  Academy  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Boys'  School,  and  at  least  a  partial  union  of 
the  medical  work  at  Seoul  and  in  the  North  will  at  once  be  effected. 
The  Girls'  Schools  of  the  Northern  Presbyterian  and  Southern 
Methodist  Missions  will  also  be  united. 

All  who  love  God's  kingdom  will  rejoice  to  learn  of  the  proba- 
bility of  a  definite  and  thorough  uniting  of  Christian  converts  in 
Korea  in  one  body,  not  so  formed  as  to  perpetuate  differences,  his- 
toric in  other  lands,-  but  without  meaning  in  Korea,  but  rather  to 
emphasize  the  oneness  of  God's  people  throughout  the  world. 

2.  China.  The  statement  is  sometimes  made  that  in  older 
missions  too  little  attention  was  paid  to  a  proper  division  of  field, 
and  that  opportunities  of  friction  between  missions  have  thus  been 
rendered  too  numerous.  With  regard  to  China  it  must  be  said  that 
when  the  missionaries  first  entered  various  parts  of  the  country  they 
did  so  through  doors  but  slightly  opened;  as,  for  example,  in  the 


352  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

entering  of  the  five  treaty  ports  in  1844  missionary  operations  were 
so  much  restricted  that  the  workers  were  not  permitted  to  go  but 
a  few  miles  into  the  interior  from  these  treaty  ports. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  overwhelming  population  of  China 
invited  all  the  Christian  Churches  to  enter  whenever  possible.  It 
was  therefore  inevitable  that  many  missions  should  enter  at  the 
same  point,  and  a  division  of  the  field  was  a  practical  impossibility. 

The  results  of  overlapping  may,  however,  very  easily  be  exag- 
gerated, and  it  is  to  the  credit  of  missionary  societies  working  in 
China  that  as  the  field  has  widely  opened  up  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land  there  has  been  more  and  more  disposition 
to  prevent  unnecessary  overlapping,  and  to  attain  a  higher  degree 
of  comity  and  cooperation  in  mission  work.  All  have  had  such 
obstacles  to  contend  with,  they  all  have  worked  along  the  line  of 
least  resistance,  and  a  very  remarkable  degree  of  success  has  been 
attained.  The  effort  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries  to  get  together 
in  their  policies  and  methods  of  work  dates  far  back  into  the  his- 
tory of  China  missions. 

There  have  been  two  great  conferences  of  Protestant  mission- 
aries in  China,  the  first  in  1877,  attended  by  126  delegates,  repre- 
senting twenty-one  societies,  and  the  second  in  1890,  when  there 
were  445  delegates  and  over  a  thousand  missionaries  present.  The 
practical  result  of  these  conferences  has  been  union  translation  of 
the  Bible  in  both  the  literary  and  the  colloquial  languages  of  China. 
The  striking  out  of  certain  policies  which  have  in  the  main  been 
followed  by  all  the  missions  in  their  systems  of  education,  evan- 
gelistic and  medical  work,  and  in  their  dealings  with  the  Chinese 
oflBcials. 

The  Educational  Association  of  China,  a  large  and  influential 
body,  meeting  triennially,  is  an  outgrowth  of  this  conference.  This 
association  has  been  a  means  of  unifying  the  policy  of  schools  and 
colleges  in  China,  and  also  of  providing  standard  text-books  along 
many  lines  of  study. 

A  still  more  important  general  conference,  which  was  to  have 
occurred  in  1901,  but  was  postponed  on  account  of  the  upsetting 
influences  of  the  Boxer  troubles,  is  to  meet  in  Shanghai  in  1907, 
just  one  hundred  years  after  the  coming  of  Eobert  Morrison  to 
China.  Great  advance  is  looked  for  in  the  direction  of  effective  co- 
operation and  possibly  of  federation  a?  the  result  of  the  coming 
conference. 

One  other  evidence  of  the  widespread  desire  for  mutual  help  is 


REV.    BISHOP    DANIEL    A.    GOODSELL.  REV.    S.    P.    SPRENG,    D.D. 

D.D.,     LL.D. 


REV.    JOSIAH    STRONG,   D.D. 


REV.   P.   T.   TAGG,   D.D. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK   IN    CHINA  353 

found  in  the  formation  of  the  China  Missions  Alliance,  with  an 
Executive  Committee  in  Shanghai  and  local  committees  through- 
out the  provinces.  This  forms  a  means  of  placing  before  the  whole 
mission  body  in  China  subjects  of  national  importance.  The  work- 
ings of  this  Alliance  have  been  somewhat  restricted  in  the  past, 
but  the  advantages  which  accrue  from  such  an  alliance  are  evident. 
The  Chinese  Government  had  at  one  time  desired  to  have  some  indi- 
vidual appointed  who  should  represent  and  act  for  the  Protestant 
missionary  body,  just  as  the  Archbishop  might  act  for  the  Komau 
Catholic  body  of  missionaries.  The  matter  having  been  put  to  a 
vote  among  all  the  missions  in  China,  it  was  decided  to  be  inex- 
pedient to  have  such  a  representative.  On  the  other  hand,  methods 
of  cooperation  in  union  hymnals  or  other  publications,  and  matters 
of  moment  in  other  lines  of  mission  work,  can  be  decided  through 
this  General  Committee  and  the  Local  Committees. 

The  China  Inland  Mission,  the  largest  of  the  missions  working 
in  China  in  point  of  numbers,  having  over  eight  hundred  mission- 
aries, is,  as  is  well  known,  an  interdenominational,  or  undenomina- 
tional, mission.  Baptists,  Methodists,  Episcopalians  and  Presby- 
terians, etc.,  are  found  among  its  workers.  The  plan  pursued  by 
the  mission  with  regard  to  the  founding  of  native  churches  is  that 
wherever  work  has  been  taken  up  by  a  missionary  of  one  denomi- 
nation his  successors  shall  be  of  the  same  denomination,  or  if  any 
temporary  arrangements  necessitate  the  sending  of  a  missionary 
of  another  communion  he  shall  make  no  effort  to  change  the  com- 
plexion of  the  Church  in  that  place. 

Probably  the  most  forward  of  the  denominations  working  in 
China  in  the  matter  of  union  is  the  Presbyterian  family.  There 
has  been  an  effort  for  many  years  to  effect  a  union  of  Presb3rterian 
converts  in  China,  and  the  effort  will  apparently  soon  be 
crowned  with  success.  In  1901  a  representative  conference  of 
Presbyterian  missionaries  met  in  Shanghai  and  organized  a  Com- 
mittee of  Union,  the  members  of  which  were  to  be  appointed  by 
the  various  missions.  This  Committee  of  Union,  of  which  the 
writer  is  the  Secretary,  met  in  1902,  and  again  in  1903.  At  these 
meetings  plans  for  union  of  the  Chinese  churches  of  the  various 
missions  were  formulated.  The  missions  represented  were  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  England,  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  the  Irish  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Canadian 
Presbyterian  Church,  the  American  Reformed  Church  and  the 
Presbyterian  Churches,  North  and  South,  of  the  United  States. 


354  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Cumberland  Presb}i;erJans  and  certain  others  of  the  Presbyterian 
family  are  likely  to  enter  the  union.  A  meeting  of  the  committee 
was  held  in  Shangliai  in  October  of  this  year,  the  results  of  which 
have  not  yet  been  learned  in  this  country. 

The  plans  fixed  upon  in  1903  looked  toward  the  establishment 
of  a  General  Assembly,  embracing  the  Presbyterian  Churches  from 
Manchuria  in  the  North  to  Kwang-tung  Province  in  the  South, 
forty  thousand  communicants  strong.  It  is  probable,  however, 
that  the  differences  of  dialect  and  distance  in  China  will  prevent 
the  immediate  establislunent  of  this  General  Assembly,  and  that 
there  will  be  local  union  effected  in  five  or  six  synods  in  various 
regions  where  two  or  more  Presbyterian  missions  are  working,  these 
synods  being  federally  united  for  the  time  being.  Even  in  this 
case  the  union  between  Presbyterians  will  be  an  accomplished  fact, 
and  the  General  Assembly  in  China  will  have  been  delayed  but  a 
few  years. 

At  the  committee  meeting  in  1903,  after  plans  of  union  had 
been  fixed  upon,  the  committee  was  entertained  by  the  Shanghai 
Missionaries  Association,  representing  a  large  number  of  mission- 
ary societies,  and  a  very  enthusiastic  and  cordial  reception  was  given 
to  the  account  of  the  committee's  work.  Other  denominations  were 
influenced  by  the  prospect  of  this  union  to  seek  union  among  them- 
selves. The  Methodist  Episcopal  Missions,  North  and  South,  have 
since  effected  a  union  of  their  publication  work,  and  are  looking 
toward  further  united  measures  among  themselves.  The  Ameri- 
can Baptists,  North  and  South,  have  united  in  a  scheme  of  higher 
education,  and  the  news  has  Just  been  made  public  that  each 
society  has  made  a  grant  of  $10,000  toward  the  establishment  of  a 
large  joint  institution  of  learning.  The  most  enthusiastic  recep- 
tion was  given  to  the  statement  made  by  the  Committee  on  Pres- 
byterian Union  that  their  purpose  in  effecting  such  a  union  was 
not  the  glorifying  of  Presbyterianism,  or  the  emphasizing  of  denom- 
inational differences,  but  rather  that  union  within  denominational 
lines  should  be  made  a  step  toward  the  earnestly  desired  goal  of 
one  undivided  Christian  Church  in  China. 

Plans  have  been  formed  for  cooperation  in  educational  work 
in  several  parts  of  China.  Entirely  forgetting  their  denomina- 
tional lines,  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  and  Tx)ndon  Missionary  Society 
have  combined  with  the  Presb5i;erians  in  and  about  Peking  in  the 
Arts  College,  the  Medical  College  and  Theological  Seminary  work. 
Similarly  in  Shantung  the  English  Baptists  and  the  Presbyterians 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL  WORK  IN  JAPAN  355 

have  effected  a  union  work.  In  Central  China  the  Presbyterian 
Missions,  North  and  South,  have  just  effected  the  establishment  of 
a  union  Theological  Seminary,  each  mission  setting  apart  an 
instructor  for  this  work.  The  buildings  are  in  process  of  erection 
at  Nanking.  The  Foreign  Christian  Mission  of  Nanking  has  just 
presented  a  formal  request  to  be  allowed  to  cooperate  with  the 
different  missions  in  this  work.  Similar  union  in  educational  work 
is  likely  to  be  reported  from  Sze-Chuen  and  in  other  parts  of  China. 
Such  lines  of  cooperation  and  mutual  assistance  are  so  evi- 
dently desirable,  both  for  the  sake  of  economy  and  for  the  sake  of 
impressing  the  Chinese  Christians  with  our  oneness,  that  they  are 
sure  to  increase  in  all  parts  of  the  Empire;  and  I  am  well  within 
the  bounds  of  truth  in  saying  that  there  is  a  widespread  and  heart- 
felt desire  on  the  part  of  Chinese  Christians  for  the  day  when  there 
shall  be  no  differences  of  denomination,  but  when  all  those  who 
name  the  name  of  Christ  in  China  shall  be  united  in  one  indepen- 
dent, self-governing  Church  of  China. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    WORK    IN    JAPAN 


The  Rev.  James  L.  Barton,  D.D. 


The  mission  boards  first  beginning  operations  in  Japan  were 
fortunate  in  the  broad  minded  statesmanship  and  depth  of  Chris- 
tian character  possessed  by  their  early  missionaries.  When  work 
was  once  inaugurated  the  difficulties  confronting  the  progress  of 
Christianity  in  that  empire  were  so  colossal  and  the  promises  of 
success  under  right  conditions  so  alluring,  that  questions  gath- 
ering about  denominational  differences  were  early  relegated  to 
the  background,  and  the  one  mighty  theme  of  "the  Kingdom  of 
God  for  Japan  and  Japan  for  the  Kingdom"  was  kept  to  the 
front.  With  such  men  of  deep  piety  and  high  intelligence  and 
in  such  a  country  of  endless  surprises  and  unexpected  achieve- 
ments, it  was  most  natural  that  the  Christian  work  should  have 
developed  largely  along  lines  that  are  Christian  first  and  denomi- 
national afterwards. 

We  will  now  trace  some  of  the  lines  of  practical  federated 
work  which  have  developed  in  Japan.    We  can  mention  only  the 


356  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

most  marked  and  such  as  have  proved  their  success  by  recorded 
results.    We  will  class  these  various  operations  under  two  heads. 

I.  Federation  within  similar  denominations. 

II.  Federation  among  divergent  denominations. 

I.— WITHIN    SIMILAR    DEINOMINATIONS. 

On  June  21,  1877 — only  eighteen  years  after  modem  mission- 
ary work  was  begun  in  Japan — the  missions  in  Japan  of  the 
Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  of  America,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (North)  of  America,  and  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Scotland   met  in  convention  and  voted: 

That  we  heartily  enter  upon  united  effort  in  our  missionary  work 
and  that  we  proceed  to  make  such  arrangements  as  shall  seem  best 
adapted  to  secure  the  organization  of  all  existing  native  churches  under 
our  respective  care  into  one  body. 

The  name  "The  Union  Church  of  Christ  in  Japan"  was  given 
to  the  Church  that  resulted  from  this  joint  effort.  Two  years 
later,  at  a  meeting  of  "The  Council  of  the  United  Missions  of 
Japan,"  as  the  organization  was  called,  resolutions  were  passed 
expressing  keen  satisfaction  at  the  results  of  both  theological 
education  of  students  in  preparation  for  the  ministry  and  in 
the  general  work  of  evangelization.  In  1885  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (South)  of  the  United  States  of  America  joined  the 
Council,  followed  in  May,  1886,  by  the  Mission  of  the  Reformed 
(German)  Church  in  the  United  States. 

The  number  of  cooperating  missions  has  been  increased  to 
include,  besides  those  mentioned  above,  the  missions  of  the  Cum- 
berland Presbyterian  Church.  These  cooperating  missions  sup- 
port and  conduct  in  common  two  theological  schools,  several  train- 
ing schools  for  Bible  women,  besides  other  schools;  publish  a 
theological  magazine,  and  carry  on  all  forms  of  missionary  work. 
There  are  in  this  practical  union  more  than  14,000  Japanese 
Christians  in  seventy-five  churches  and  one  hundred  and  nine 
preaching  places.  During  the  twenty-eight  years  since  the  be- 
ginning of  this  Federation  there  has  been  no  attempt  to  turn 
backwards.    The  results  have  fully  justified  the  plan. 

An  effort  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  and  the 
Southern   Baptist   Convention   to   bring   into    closer    cooperation 


IDfTERDENOMINATIONAL  WORK  IN  JAPAN  357 

tlie  theological  and  Biblical  training  of  Japanese  youth  and  far 
wider  and  closer  cooperation  is  contemplated.  No  formal  union 
has  yet  been  consummated. 

The  missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (North)  and 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (South),  and  the  Canadian  Meth- 
odist Church  have  appointed  a  commission  to  bring  about  a  union 
of  these  three  bodies.  There  is  a  strong  feeling  in  Japan  in  favor 
of  such  a  union. 

All  of  the  missions  in  Japan  carried  on  by  the  Episcopal 
Church  of  England,  Canada,  and  the  United  States  are  united 
in  one  Church  bearing  the  name  of  "The  Holy  Catholic  Church 
of  Japan."  This  Church  has  its  ovm  Japanese  clergy,  holds  to- 
gether its  Triennial  Synod,  including  delegates  from  the  six 
English  and  American  dioceses,  and  is  now  looking  forward  to 
the  election  within  the  next  few  years  of  a  Japanese  bishop.  All 
except  the  missions  of  the  Presbyterian  group  first  mentioned 
are  in  their  infancy  in  their  cooperating  plans  as  yet,  but  the 
trend  of  the  movement  is  unmistakable. 

II.  We  turn  now  to  the  wider  interdenominational  federa- 
tions which  are  more  significant  and  far-reaching.  We  will  class 
these  various  plans  of  cooperation  under  the  heads  of  Educa- 
tional, Literary,  Evangelistic,  and  General. 

1.  The  Educational  Work.  There  are  few  mission  schools 
in  Japan  that  are  strictly  denominational.  In  most  of  them  are 
found  pupils  and  teachers  from  various  denominations.  The 
Doshisha  at  Kyoto  was  started  by  the  American  Board  of  Foreign 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  (Congregational),  but  at 
the  present  time  three  or  four  denominations  are  represented 
upon  its  Board  of  Trustees  and  as  many  upon  its  faculty. 

Four  denominations  have  been  engaged  at  one  time  as  teach- 
ers in  its  theologcal  department.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the 
time  will  come  when  there  will  be  in  Japan  only  one  or  possibly 
two  theological  schools — entirely  interdenominational  as  to 
students,  instructors  and  managers.  The  missions  have  united 
in  a  proposition  to  foster  at  some  central  place  in  the  Empire  a 
school  for  the  study  of  the  Japanese  language  in  which  new  mis- 
sionaries of  all  denominations  shall  be  placed  while  preparing 
themselves  for  work  in  the  vernacular. 

They  are  also  cooperating  in  a  school  at  Tokyo  for  foreign 
children,   to  which  their  own  children  may  be   sent.     Such   a 


358  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

school  is  now  in  full  operation,  the  pupils  representing  nearly 
every  denomination  working  in  the  country. 

2.  Literary  Work.  In  1877  the  mission  of  the  American 
Board  in  Japan  appointed  a  committee  to  confer  with  representa- 
tives of  the  other  Christian  missions  in  that  country  with  refer- 
ence to  the  appointment  of  a  joint  committee  for  the  translation 
into  Japanese  of  the  Old  Testament.  A  convention  was  held  in 
Tokyo  in  May,  1878,  at  which  it  was  voted : 

That  each  mission  represented  in  the  convention  be  requested  from 
time  to  time  to  elect  one  of  its  members  who  shall  serve  upon  a  per- 
manent committee. 

Power  was  given  to  such  a  committee  to  add  to  their  numbers 
a  delegate  from  any  Protestant  mission  not  represented  in  that 
convention.  This  committee  was  to  be  a  court  of  appeal  from 
the  Old  Testament  translation  committee  as  well  as  a  committee 
to  meet  certain  contingencies  which  might  arise  in  the  general 
mission  work.  At  this  convention  forty-seven  male  missionaries 
were  present,  representing  fourteen  different  societies  and  eleven 
different  denominations.  There  were  at  that  time  only  sixty-six 
male  missionaries  in  the  country. 

Here  we  discover  an  early  move  toward  union  through  an  in- 
terdenominational committee  whose  duties  were  not  clearly  de- 
fined, but  who  were  to  represent  together  the  Christian  work 
in  the  Empire  as  a  whole. 

At  the  same  conference  it  was  voted  that: 

All  missions  and  individuals  connected  with  missions,  who  have 
published  or  prepared  any  books,  tracts,  or  maps  in  the  Japanese 
language,  be  requested  to  send  a  copy  of  each  to  the  secretary  of  every 
other  mission  and  that  they  be  requested  to  do  the  same  with  all  pub- 
lications they  may  make  hereafter. 

In  order  to  save  duplication  in  work  and  the  loss  of  time, 
energy,  and  money,  it  was  also  voted: 

That  when  any  one  shall  have  actually  begun  such  a  work  of  prepa- 
ration (of  translation  or  original  work  for  the  press)  he  be  requested  to 
notify  the  editor  of  the  ShicM  Icfii  Zappo,  who  has  kindly  consented  to 
publish  a  notice  of  the  same. 

In  1881  interdenominational  tract  committees  were  formed  for 
East  and  West  Japan  which  worked  in  cooperation  with  the 
American  Tract  Society.  Within  one  year  twenty  publications 
were  issued.    In  1875  there  was  in  Tokyo  a  corresponding  com- 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL  WORK  IN  JAPAN  359 

mittee  of  the  Religious  Tract  Society  of  London,  composed  of 
British  missionaries  alone.  These  are  now  merged  into  the 
Japanese  Book  and  Tract  Society,  although  many  of  the  different 
hoards  do  no  little  publishing  upon  their  own  account. 

Sunday  School  Literature.  The  Council  of  Missions  cooperat- 
ing with  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Japan,  the  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  the  Mission  of  the  Amer- 
ican Board,  and  the  Mission  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary 
Union  have  recently  united  to  prepare  and  publish  a  series  of 
Sunday  School  Lesson  Helps  for  the  use  of  all  the  Churches 
represented  in  the  missions  here  included.  Since  1899  these  four 
missions  and  groups  of  missions  have  prepared  and  issued  by  a 
joint  committee  a  Sunday  School  Monthly,  a  Quarterly,  and 
Beginners^  Leaflets. 

The  British  and  P^oreign  Bible  Society  of  England  and  the 
American  Bible  Society  and  the  National  Bible  Society  of  Scot- 
land combined  in  1890  and  carried  on  their  work  in  Japan  and 
Korea  under  the  direction  of  a  single  agent  directed  by  a  Bible 
Societies  Committee.  The  success  and  value  of  the  plan  has 
been  evident.  Owing,  however,  to  the  greatly  increased  demands 
upon  the  Bible  societies,  Japan  has  been  divided  into  two  Bible 
districts,  the  American  Society  having  charge  of  the  eastern 
half  and  the  two  societies  of  Great  Britain  the  western  half,  each 
under  a  separate  committee,  but  with  provisions  for  a  joint  meet- 
ing. Three  at  least  of  the  nine  members  of  the  committee  upon 
the  British  work  must  be  Americans  and  the  same  proportion  of 
Englishmen  upon  the  American  committee  is  provided  for. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  and  striking  act  of  interdenomi- 
national cooperation  in  the  line  of  pubHcation  is  that  which  has 
produced  and  put  into  circulation  a  hymn  book  for  the  use  of  all 
denominations  in  the  country.  At  the  Interdenominational  Mis- 
sionary Conference  held  at  Tokyo  in  October,  1900,  the  following 
vote  was  passed: 

Be  it  resolved  that  this  Conference  places  itself  on  record  as  desir- 
ing the  use  of  a  common  hymnal  by  the  Christians  in  Japan,  and  that 
if,  under  existing  conditions,  this  proves  impracticable,  nevertheless  as 
many  denominations  as  possible  shall  unite  to  seciu-e  this  desired  end. 

A  representative  committee  of  five  was  appointed  from  the  five 
largest  mission  groups  in  the  Empire : 


3G0  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

To  secure  the  best  possible  translations  of  one  hundred,  more  or 
less,  of  such  hymns,  to  adapt  these  translations  to  appropriate  tunes, 
and  to  endeavor  to  introduce  these  as  far  as  possible  into  all  collections 
of  church  hymnals. 

The  committee,  acting  in  most  harmonious  cooperation,  pre- 
pared and  put  through  the  press  in  1903  a  hymn  book  containing 
four  hundred  and  eighty-five  selections,  many  of  them  new  to 
Japan.  One  hundred  and  twenty-five  of  these  hymns  were  in- 
corporated by  the  Episcopalians  into  their  revised  hymn  book. 
All  other  denominations  have  adopted  the  book  as  a  whole,  so 
that  in  the  matter  of  hymns  and  tunes  practical  uniformity  pre- 
vails throughout  the  entire  Christian  body  in  Japan. 

3.  Evangelistic  Operations.  Much  of  the  cooperation  al- 
ready referred  to  is  evangelistic  in  its  aim,  purpose,  and  results. 
Before  any  plans  for  closer  organic  union  were  adopted,  the  vari- 
ous missions  worked  side  by  side  in  great  harmony.  The  Evan- 
gelical Alliance  was  formed  early  in  the  liistory  of  missions  and 
has  been  a  common  meeting  ground  for  the  different  denomina- 
tions. iSTearly  all  have  been  represented  in  its  active  membership, 
and,  through  it,  evangelistic  campaigns  upon  interdenominational 
lines  have  been  conducted.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  a  power  in  all  good 
work  and  a  meeting  place  of  all  denominations. 

Without  going  into  details  we  will  report  one  comparatively 
recent  piece  of  evangelistic  work  in  which  every  evangelical  de- 
nomination represented  in  Japan  took  part.  This  illustrates 
and  demonstrates  the  spirit  of  cooperation  that  prevails  in  Japan 
at  the  present  time. 

The  Missionary  Association  of  Central  Japan  on  December  17, 
1901,  appointed  a  committee  of  its  own  members  to  formulate 
a  plan  for  a  special  interdenominational  effort  at  the  Osaka  Na- 
tional Exhibition  to  be  held  in  the  spring  of  1903.  This  associa- 
tion was  made  up  of  the  Presbyterian,  Congregational,  Episcopal, 
Methodist,  and  Baptist  group  of  missions,  as  well  as  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  The  proposition  met  with  the  most  cordial  response  and 
funds  sufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  committee  were  soon 
provided.  A  large  hall  in  front  of  the  main  entrance  to  the 
grounds  was  leased  for  the  five  months  of  the  exhibition.  This 
was  in  the  charge  of  a  joint  committee  which  made  all  the  gen- 
eral arrangements. 

There  were  held  forenoon,  afternoon,  and  evening  almost  a 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL  WORK  IN  JAPAN  361 

continuous  series  of  meetings  with  constant  changes  of  speakers 
and  singers.  The  first  thirteen  days  all  denominations,  Joining 
together,  conducted  the  meeting.  The  next  twenty-eight  days 
were  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Baptist  group,  the  next  twenty- 
eight  the  meetings  were  directed  by  the  Congregational  group, 
the  next  by  the  Presbyterian  group,  the  next  by  the  Methodists, 
and  the  last  twenty-eight  days  were  in  charge  of  the  Episcopal 
group.  In  all  1,670  distinct  meetings  were  held,  at  which  2,531 
addresses  were  made  to  2i5,868  people.  Over  16,000  signed  cards 
asking  for  further  instruction  in  Christianity.  It  is  doubtful  if 
ever  before  in  any  land  so  large  a  body  of  Christians  of  so  wide 
a  variety  of  denominations  ever  so  heartily  joined  together  in 
fraternal  cooperation  for  five  months  in  a  purely  evangelistic 
effort  for  the  conversion  of  men. 

4.  General  Cooperating  Measures.  In  1881  the  missionaries 
of  the  American  Board  (Congregational),  and  of  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  (Episcopal),  held  conferences  in  Osaka  and  Kobe. 
At  Kobe  nearly  all  of  the  missionaries  in  the  vicinity  were  united, 
and  representatives  from  six  missions  were  present,  of  which  three 
were  Episcopalians.    A  report  of  the  gathering  says: 

That  meeting,  characterized  by  a  spirit  of  sympathy,  unity  and 
love  will  long  be  remembered. 

On  this  occasion  the  desire  to  hold  a  general  convention  of 
Protestant  missionaries  seemed  general  and  a  resolution  to  that 
effect  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  take  measures  to  accomplish  it.  In  accordance  with  these 
arrangements,  a  general  conference  was  held  in  Osaka,  April  16 
to  21,  1883,  at  which  twenty-two  societies  were  represented  by 
one  hundred  and  six  delegates.  All  of  the  denominations  working 
in  Japan  at  that  time  were  represented,  and  nearly  sixty  per  cent, 
of  the  missionaries  were  present.  Twenty-six  important  topics 
were  presented  by  a  special  paper  and  afterwards  discussed  by 
the  conference  as  a  whole.  These  included  subjects  relating  to 
practical  questions  of  mission  operations  and  policy,  as  well  as 
more  general  subjects.  The  proceedings  were  published  in  a 
volume  of  468  pages  with  several  charts.  The  proceedings  of 
this  conference  were  most  harmonious,  the  subjects  treated  and 
the  discussions  supremely  instructive  and  inspiring. 


362  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

THE  TOKYO  CONFERENCE  OF   1900. 

No  other  general  conference  of  the  missionaries  in  Japan  was 
held  until  there  was  convened  in  Tokyo,  October  24-31,  1900,  the 
largest  of  its  kind  and  the  most  representative  conference  of  mis- 
sionaries ever  held  in  that  country.  There  were  four  hundred 
and  fifty  foreign  missionaries  present,  representing  six  hundred 
and  twenty-four  missionaries,  forty-nine  mission  boards  and  as 
many  denominations  and  separate  organizations.  Not  only  was 
the  mission  work  in  the  Empire  thoroughly  surveyed,  but  the 
most  practical  matters  relating  to  the  common  mission  work  were 
considered,  discussed,  and  often  decided  upon.  It  was  in  tliis 
conference  that  most  important  practical  measures  were  taken 
to  perpetuate  interdenominational  cooperation  and  to  prevent 
wasteful  and  unchristian  competition  among  missionaries  and 
boards.  It  was  here  that  the  plan  already  referred  to  for  a  union 
Japanese  hymn  book  for  all  the  different  denominations  in  the 
country  took  shape,  resulting  in  the  completion  of  the  work  three 
years  later.  The  same  body  took  practical  steps  to  provide  inter- 
denominational Sunday  School  Lesson  Helps,  which  are  now  in 
use  by  several  missions. 

The  most  important  action  of  the  conference  was  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  "promoting  committee"  of  ten: 

To  prepare  a  plan  for  the  formation  of  a  represent^itive  standing 
committee  of  the  missions,  such  plan  to  be  submitted  to  the  various 
missions  for  their  approval,  and  to  go  into  operation  as  soon  as 
approved  by  such  a  number  of  missions  as  include  in  their  membership 
not  less  than  two-thirds  of  the  Protestant  missionaries  in  Japan. 

The  report  of  this  conference  makes  a  closely  printed  vol- 
ume of  1,048  pages,  with  many  tables  and  charts.  It  contains 
invaluable  information  for  every  student  of  the  Christian  move- 
ment in  Japan. 

Through  the  efforts  of  the  "Promoting  Committee"  appointed 
at  this  conference,  as  recorded  above,  a  general  standing  com- 
mittee was  convened  in  Tokyo  in  January,  1902,  with  seventeen 
representatives  present  from  seventeen  missions.  These  included 
all  of  the  old  and  strong  missions  in  the  country  except  the 
Episcopalians.  The  Constitution  then  adopted  has  as  its  two  prin- 
cipal features: 

I.  The  name  "The  Standing  Committee  of  Cooperating 
Christian  Missions  in  Japan."' 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL  WORK  IN  JAPAN  363 

II.  Functions,  "This  committee  shall  serve  as  a  general  me- 
dium of  reference,  communication,  and  effort  for  the  cooperating 
missions  in  matters  of  common  interest  and  in  cooperative  enter- 
prise. On  application  of  interested  parties,  and  in  cases  of  urgent 
importance  on  its  own  initiative  the  committee  may  give  coun- 
sel/' 

(a)  With  regard  to  the  distribution  of  forces  for  evangelistic, 
educational,  and  eleemosynary  work,  especially  where  enlargement 
is  contemplated; 

(b)  With  regard  to  plans  for  union  or  cooperation  on  the 
part  of  two  or  more  missions  for  any  or  all  of  the  above  forms 
of  missionarj''  work; 

(c)  And  in  general  with  a  view  to  the  prevention  of  mis- 
understandings and  the  promotion  of  harmony  of  spirit  and 
uniformity  of  method  among  the  cooperating  missions. 

(2)  The  work  of  this  committee  may  include: 

(a)  The  formation  of  plans  calculated  to  stimulate  the  pro- 
duction and  circulation  of  Christian  literature; 

(b)  The  arranging  for  special  evangelistic  campaigns  for  the 
services  of  visitors  from  abroad  as  preachers  of  lectures,  and 
for  other  forms  of  cooperative  evangelistic  effort; 

(c)  In  securing  joint  action  to  meet  emergencies  affecting  the 
common  interests  of  the  cooperating  missions. 

(3)  In  ser\'ing  as  a  means  of  communication  between  the 
cooperating  missions  the  committee  shall  be  authorized  to  pub- 
lish at  least  once  a  year  a  record  of  social  and  religious  condi- 
tions and  progress. 

The  articles  which  follow  deal  with  the  membership  of  the 
committee,  offices,  meetings,  expenses,  etc. 

The  separate  missions  chose  their  own  representatives  and 
the  expenses  of  the  committee  are  paid  by  the  several  missions 
represented  in  its  membership. 

There  are  six  permanent  sub-committees: 

1.  Christian  literature. 

2.  Cooperating  evangelistic  work. 


364  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

3.  Speakers  and  lectures  from  abroad. 

4.  Educational  and  eleemosynary  work. 

5.  Statistics, 

6.  General  business. 

The  Bible  societies  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  were  invited  to  ap- 
point representatives  upon  the  committee. 

The  plan  for  a  general  catalogue  of  all  Japanese  Christian 
literature,  for  a  school  for  the  instruction  in  Japanese  of  all 
new  missionaries,  a  school  for  missionary  children  in  Japan,  the 
preparation  of  a  union  Sunday  School  hymnal,  and  the  sending 
of  Christian  chaplains  to  the  war,  were  originated  and  carried 
into  execution  by  this  committee. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  committee  in  1901  there  were  present 
twenty-four  representatives  from  nineteen  missions,  and  this  year, 
1905,  there  were  twenty-two  representatives  from  twenty  dif- 
ferent missions.  As  now  constituted  this  committee  is  com- 
posed of  representatives  from  all  of  the  leading  boards,  societiea 
and  denominations  working  in  Japan,  including  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  England  (Episcopalian). 

This  committee  has  published  for  three  years  in  succession 
under  the  editorship  of  Rev,  D,  C,  Green,  D,  D.,  a  full  but  con- 
densed report  of  the  Christian  work  in  Japan  under  the  title, 
"The  Christian  Movement  in  Its  Relation  to  the  New  Life  in 
Japan."  These  reports  contain  from  one  hundred  and  sixty  to 
two  hundred  and  fifty  pages  each  and  include  the  work  of  the 
Russo-Greek  Church,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Roman  Catholics, 
Each  has  a  complete  missionary  directory  and  tables  of  general 
statistics  corrected  to  date.  The  committee  plans  to  continue 
this  publication  from  year  to  year, 

CONGRESS    OF  JAPANESE   RELIGIONS. 

In  May,  1904,  there  was  held  in  Tokyo  a  religious  meeting 
of  unusual  interest  to  the  world,  but  more  especially  to  Japan. 
It  was  a  general  Congress  of  Japanese  Religions,  including  not 
only  Christians  of  various  denominations,  both  Japanese  and 
foreign,  but  also  representatives  of  different  Buddhist  and  Shinto 
sects.  Priests  and  high  officials  of  Shinto  and  Buddhist  temples, 
professors  from  the  Imperial  University,  Christian  pastors  and 
missionaries,  and  representatives  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  Cath- 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL  WORK  IN  JAPAN  365 

olic  Churches  met  upon  the  same  platform,  not  so  much  in  the 
name  of  religion  as  under  the  impulse  of  a  com m on  interest  in 
the  highest  welfare  of  Japan.  Some  1,500  people  were  in  at- 
tendance. In  connection  with  this  remarkable  gathering  it  was 
said,  "If  religious  men  are  to  be  forever  at  war  when  shall  the 
world  have  peace?'' 

In  organized  interdenominational  practical  cooperation  prob- 
ably the  example  set  by  the  Christian  leaders  in  Japan  is  not 
surpassed  anywhere  in  the  world.  No  other  country  presents  so 
many  favorable  conditions  as  does  Japan.  The  Empire  itself  is 
small,  compact,  and  with  conmion  language.  These  are  condi- 
tions which  prevail  in  no  other  country  with  so  large  a  popu- 
lation commanding  the  attention  of  so  many  denominations.  It 
would  be  surprising  and  even  lamentable  were  there  not  a  good 
degree  of  cooperation.  It  is  a  cause  for  deep  gratification  that 
the  Christian  work  of  that  country,  both  among  Japanese  and 
foreigners,  is  carried  on  with  so  little  friction  and  waste  of 
energy,  and  with  such  hearty,  fruitful  cooperation. 

It  is  no  exaggeration  to  affirm  that  nowhere  else  in  the  world 
can  there  be  found  such  a  general  practical  acceptance  of  the 
principles  of  interdenominational  cooperation  as  that  existing 
and  operating  to-day  throughout  the  Empire  of  Japan.  It  may 
be  said  without  fear  of  contradiction  that  the  Christians  in 
Japan,  both  native  and  foreign,  exalt  Christianity  above  creed 
and  fraternity  above  denomination. 


A    UNITED    CHURCH    AND    THE    FELLOW- 
SHIP   OF   FAITH 


ADDRESS   BY   THE  CHAIRMAN   OF  THE  CONFER- 
ENCE   SESSION 


Hon.  Henry  Kirke  Porter 


I  count  it  a  very  great  honor  that  has  heen  conferred  upon 
me  to  be  invited  by  the  brethren  of  my  denomination  to  rep- 
resent them  in  connection  with  others  here  in  this  Conference. 
I  am  glad  that  forty  years  of  service  in  connection  with  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  has  brought  me  into  full  sympathy 
vidth  a  large  number  of  those  whom  I  know  as  Christian  men. 
I  do  not  know  their  distinctive  fellowship;  I  know  them  as  one 
in  Christ.  I  think  that  none  of  us  can  help  being  impressed  in 
our  daily  life  with  the  necessity  of  a  power  from  without  and 
from  above  to  keep  us  in  the  way,  and  to  keep  our  feet  from 
falling,  and  anyone  who  has  experienced  such  help  and  known  it 
in  his  life  rejoices  that  that  help  is  extended  broadcast  wherever 
men,  recognizing  their  need,  and  recognizing  the  hand  stretched 
out  to  save,  look  up  and  cry,  "Lord,  save  me ;  I  perish."  It  is  on 
that  basis  that  we  can  all  come  in  our  great  need  and  in  our 
recognition  of  the  great  offer  of  help,  and  go  on  rejoicing  in  Him 
who  has  been  revealed  unto  us  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

Our  theme  to-night  is  stated  in  terms  that  are  hardly  more 
than  synonyms.  A  United  Church  is  certainly  a  perfect  illus- 
tration of  the  fellowship  of  faith,  and  perfect  fellowship  of  faith 
cannot  fail  to  bring  all  who  possess  it  into  substantial  unity.  Our 
fellowship  vsdth  one  another  can  approach  such  perfectness  only 
as  we  all  come  near  to  Him  who  is  the  Head ;  mindful  in  our  com- 
ing of  the  reverence  which  is  His  due,  obedient  to  His  com- 
mands, quick  to  do  His  will,  and  conforming  our  lives  unto  His 
perfect  life,  for  "truly  our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  and 
with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ." 

The  addresses  of  this  evening  will  bring  us  into  the  contem- 
plation of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  ever  blessed  Trinity,  and  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  written 
Word  of  God.  In  such  contemplation,  and  in  the  daily  "practice 
of  the  presence  of  God"  in  our  lives,  we  shaU  all  be  brought 
very  close  to  one  another.  For  such  unity  our  Lord  Himself 
prayed,  and  is  not  this  Conference  at  least  a  partial  answer  to 


370  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

that  prayer,  and  at  the  same  time  strong  proof  of  an  earnest  long- 
ing on  the  part  of  many  of  His  followers  for  a  more  complete 
and  perfect  answer  ? 


OUR    FAITH    IN    CHRIST  — CHRIST    THE    CENTRE 
OF  CHRISTIANITY 


President  William  H.  P.  Faunce,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


And  yet,  no  Christian  ever  requires  any  introduction  or  vesti- 
bule to  a  statement  regarding  our  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  Any- 
where and  at  any  time,  such  a  statement  is  surely  in  order. 

"The  most  distinctive  element  in  modem  theology  is  what 
we  may  call  a  new  feeling  for  Christ."  This  statement  of  Prin- 
cipal Fairbairn  may  well  be  broadened,  and  we  may  say  that  the 
distinctive  element  in  the  Christian  experience  of  our  time,  the 
dominating  note  in  modem  religious  aspiration  and  devotion,  the 
clearest  motive  in  social  and  philanthropic  endeavor  is  a  new  feel- 
ing for  Christ. 

This  is  quite  distinct  from  any  new  formula  by  which  to 
describe  or  define  Christ.  The  third  and  fourth  of  the  Christian 
centuries  were  largely  occupied  with  attempts  to  set  forth  in  the 
categories  of  the  Greek  philosophy,  the  metaphysical  implications 
of  the  simple  facts  found  in  our  four  Gospels.  The  Greek  Church 
brought  to  that  task  a  mind  far  more  at  home  in  philosophy 
than  our  practical  Western  mind  has  ever  been,  and  its  work  does 
not  need  to  be  done  again.  The  Greek  Church  was  obliged  to 
depart  from  the  language  of  tlie  New  Testament,  and  to  use  a 
set  of  conceptions  that  can  never  be  truly  ''understanded  of  the 
people."  But  abstruse  and  subtle  as  that  language  may  be,  its 
object  and  outcome  is  clear;  it  settled  forever  the  Christian  con- 
viction that  Christ  is  not  merely  a  bettered  Socrates,  an  expur- 
gated David,  a  more  tolerant  Aurelius,  but  is  such  that  who- 
ever has  seen  Him   has  seen  the  Father. 

This  new  feeling  for  Christ  is  also  quite  distinct  from  any 
new  juridical  formula  by  which  to  describe  or  define  Christ's  work 
for  men.     After  the  Greek  philosophy  had  done  its  ])est  with  the 


CHRIST  THE   CENTRE   OF   CHRISTIANITY  371 

Gospel  facts,  then  came  the  translation  of  the  work  of  Christ 
into  terms  of  the  Roman  law.  The  imperial  power  had  codified 
all  the  law  into  one  vast  system,  and  every  individual  life  found 
its  significance  in  its  relation  to  those  legal  processes  by  which 
justice  was  secured,  and  the  majesty  of  the  government  upheld. 
Theology  seized  on  this  idea,  and  applied  it  to  the  work  of  Christ. 
Here  again  the  achievement  of  the  past  does  not  need  to  be  re- 
peated. Those  who  are  content  with  the  forensic  interpretation 
of  Christ's  work  will  never  find  a  better  exposition  of  it  than 
in  the  work  of  the  great  mediaeval  thinkers. 

But  this  new  feeling  for  Christ,  of  which  we  are  all  conscious, 
is  a  feeling  distinctly  personal,  largely  due  to  the  historical  study 
which  has  made  the  Prophet  from  Xazareth  a  living,  breathing 
figure,  a  vivid,  abiding  reality  in  the  modern  world.  Jesus  Christ 
is  more  real  to  His  people  to-day  than  ever  before  since  Bethle- 
hem. Gladly  profiting  by  the  results  of  the  Greek  philosophy  and 
the  Roman  law,  we  yet  press  on  to  something  more  intimate  and 
vital.  The  thought  of  Christ,  by  which  our  souls  are  fed  and 
our  spiritual  energy  maintained,  is  not  chiefly  that  of  an  official 
at  some  vast  celestial  assize,  or  chiefly  that  of  an  eternal 
person  within  an  eternal  substance,  but  in  that  of  a  living  Lord 
of  life,  in  whose  brief  earthly  life  we  discern  the  revelation  of 
the  heart  of  God,  in  whose  ethical  teaching  we  discern  a  sovereign 
voice,  and  to  whose  commands  and  ideals  we  may  safely  and 
affectionately  yield  the  supreme  allegiance  of  our  souls. 

The  most  striking  proof  of  this  would  be  found,  if  we  had 
time  to  present  it,  in  a  comparison  of  the  devotional  literature 
of  one  or  two  centuries  ago  with  that  of  our  own  time.  The 
difference  is  not  merely  that  we  have  scores  of  lives  of  Christ 
written  within  fifty  years,  not  merely  that  such  mottoes  as  "In 
His  Name"  and  "What  Would  Jesus  Do?"  have  seized  on  the 
popular  imagination,  but  that  without  denying  the  validity  of  the 
conception  of  Christ  as  an  official  we  have  transcended  it  in  the 
interest  of  Christ  as  a  person.  We  have  created  a  new  hymnology, 
whose  characteristic  cry  is: 

Oh,  Master,  let  me  walk  with  Thee, 
In  lowly  paths  of  service  free. 

Now,  this  modem  feeling  for  Christ  is  a  return,  at  least  a 
partial  return,  to  the  primitive  attitude  which  gave  peace  and 
victory  to  the  first  Apostles  of  our  Lord.     It  is  impossible  to 


372  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

exaggerate  the  depth  of  devotion  which  Peter,  James  and  John 
felt  toward  their  Master.  The  power  which  transformed  the  timid 
fishermen  into  the  founders  of  a  spiritual  empire,  the  passionate 
fervor  with  which  they  went  forth  to  conquer  Church  and  State, 
the  superb  faith  by  which  the  early  Church  marched  from  the 
upper  chamber  in  Jerusalem  to  the  imperial  assembly  at  Nicaia, 
was  not  the  result  of  mere  intellectual  analysis,  however  correct, 
but  the  result  of  a  moral  and  spiritual  allegiance  to  Jesus  Christ. 

Through  that  allegiauce  came  their  Icnowledge,  even  as  He 
had  said :  "If  any  man  will  do  His  will,  he  shall  Imow  of  the  doc- 
trine." First  came  the  implicit  faith  and  absolute  obedience, 
then  the  formulation  of  what  that  experience  involved. 

I  hardly  need  remind  this  assembly  of  this  remarkable  attitude 
of  the  primitive  Christians — an  attitude  the  more  surprising  be- 
cause not  enjoined  or  expected  by  any  of  the  founders  of  the 
great  ethnic  religions,  and  because  it  must  seem  in  conflict  with 
the  jealous  monotheism  of  Israel.  This  attitude  of  supreme  alle- 
giance is  seen  not  only  in  individual  addresses,  such  as:  "Thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Living  God;"  "Thou  hast  the 
words  of  Eternal  Life;"  "My  Lord  and  my  God" — but  far  more 
clearly  in  the  reports  of  the  entire  temper  and  the  disposition 
of  the  New  Testament  Christianity.  The  sons  of  Zebedee  for- 
sake their  boats  and  nets  and  family  at  the  first  intimation  of 
the  new  prophet,  while  Matthew  leaves  the  receipt  of  custom  at 
the  simple  word,  "FoUow  Me."  Peter  says  to  Christ,  "I  am  ready 
to  go  with  Thee  to  prison  and  to  death,"  while  the  most  timid 
of  the  Apostolic  band  repeat,  "Let  us  also  go,  that  we  may  die 
with  Him."  Martha  confidently  claims,  "If  Thou  hadst  been  here, 
by  brother  had  not  died";  and  the  nameless  centurion  goes  on 
record,  "Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God."  In  the  Book  of  Acts, 
Saul,  amid  the  blinding  light  on  the  Damascus  road,  cries :  "What 
wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do?"  and  Stephen,  amid  the  falling  stones, 
prays,  "Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit."  Individual  proof-texts 
are  not  sufficient — they  may  receive  new  readings  or  interpreta- 
tions— but  an  atmosphere  permeating  the  entire  literature  cannot 
be  dissolved  by  any  advance  in  hermeneutics.  The  early  disciples 
referred  to  their  Master  from  Nazareth  all  their  mental  prob- 
lems. Questions  about  Sabbath-keeping,  about  resurrection, 
about  marriage,  about  payment  of  taxes,  were  to  them  forever 
answered  by  his  ipse  dixit.  Questions  regarding  the  ethics  of  daily 
life:  '*How  often  shall  my  brother  sin  against  me,  and  I  forgive 


CHRIST  THE   CENTRE  OF  CHRISTIANITY  373 

him  ?"  ''Who  is  my  neighbor  ?"  were  answered  in  brief  sentences, 
which  became  the  rule  of  life  for  succeeding  centuries.  To  those 
disciples  the  Master's  word  was  the  end  of  controversy  and  the 
beginning  of  fervid  action.  When  we  enter  the  region  of  the 
New  Testament  epistles  we  find  that  the  death  of  Christ  has  only 
increased  the  unswerving,  uncalculating  devotion  of  his  followers. 
The  identification  of  Paul  with  his  Master  may  seem  mystical  and 
unreal  to  some  minds,  but  its  results  were  known  and  read  of 
all  men.  "His  working  worketh  in  me  mightily."  "I  live,  and 
yet  not  I,  but  Christ  that  liveth  in  me."  "If  any  man  be  in 
Christ,  he  is  a  new  creation."  And  this  measureless  devotion 
assured  the  disciples  of  personal  immortality  and  reunion  with 
their  Lord.  "To  depart"  was  to  be  "with  Christ,"  for  "where  He 
is" — in  power  and  peace,  and  wisdom  and  glory — there  shall  also 
His  servant  be.  But  to  quote  all  the  passages  which  set  forth  the 
self-surrender  of  the  early  Christian  mind  to  Christ  would  be 
to  quote  nearly  the  entire  New  Testament.  By  future  critical 
processes  we  may  conceivably  be  required  to  move  from  our  New 
Testament  many  a  text,  even  whole  chapters,  or  books;  but  we 
can  never  remove  the  pattern  which  runs  throughout  every  book 
and  every  chapter,  the  moral  attitude  which  created  the  literature, 
because  it  created  the  life  out  of  which  the  literature  grew. 

And  this  unmeasured  personal  devotion  was  the  sole  bond  of 
unity  in  the  early  Church.  The  unity  was  assuredly  not  racial. 
The  fetters  of  Judaism  were  quickly  cast  aside,  and  the  new 
faith  was  made  a  gospel  for  the  whole  world.  Parthians,  Medes, 
Elamites,  Jews  and  proselytes,  Cretes  and  Arabians,  all  were  equal 
sharers  in  the  privilege  and  power  of  the  new  kingdom.  Tlie 
unity  was  not  that  of  an  ecclesiastical  order,  for  the  organization 
of  the  Church  varied  with  locality,  and  embryonic  forms  of  the 
congregational,  presbyterial,  and  episcopal  order  are  clearly  dis- 
cernible in  the  New  Testament.  The  unity  was  not  that  of  a 
social  class,  whether  conservative  and  contented,  or  discontented 
and  radical,  for  it  embraced  slaves,  drunkards,  and  harlots  on 
the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  the  saints  in  Caesar's  household, 
together  with  the  eloquent  Apollos,  and  Timothy,  the  educated 
Greek.  The  unity  was  not  philosophical,  for  the  great  character- 
istic words  of  the  later  philosophy — incarnation,  atonement,  trin- 
ity— are  not  to  be  found  in  their  later  sense,  if  at  all,  in  the 
New  Testament.  But  the  unity  was  that  of  the  one  Lord,  not  yet 
psychologically  analyzed;  one  faith,  not  yet  metaphysically  for- 


374  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

mulated;  one  baptism,  not  yet  etymologically  discussed.  It  was 
one  great  personal  allegiance  to  the  Lord  who  was  dead,  and  is 
alive  forevermore,  in  whose  voice  the  disciples  heard  the  divine 
accent,  in  whose  life  they  found  a  sinless  example,  in  whose 
death  they  saw  the  supreme  sacrifice  of  the  divine  love  reconciling 
the  world  unto  itself.  Into  this  great  soul-transforming  experi- 
ence of  Christ  they  all  had  come;  by  it  every  thought  was  car- 
ried captive;  out  of  it  necessarily  were  to  come  their  ethics,  their 
theology,  and  their  entire  world-view.  Out  of  the  new  life  cre- 
ated by  the  new  energy  were  to  come  later  the  reasoned  opinions, 
the  ordered  propositions,  the  logical  sequences,  which  have  created 
the  more  or  less  adequate  creeds  of  Christendom.  First  came  the 
experimental  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  then  the  rational  reflection 
on  what  that  experience  must  imply.  But  the  one  faith  in  the 
one  Lord  was  the  root,  not  the  fruit,  of  both  the  Creed  and  the 
organization  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Here,  then,  is  the  perpetual  place  of  Christ  in  Christianity — 
at  the  very  centre.  The  consciousness  of  Christ  is  the  fountain- 
head  of  our  thought  and  action.  We  are  not  ashamed  to  acknowl- 
edge the  lordship  of  Christ.  We  profess  a  relation  to  the  founder 
of  Christianity  which  is  unique  in  human  history,  because  His 
relation  to  God — however  the  words  may  stumble  and  totter  in 
which  we  declare  it — is  unique.  We  do  not  preach  an  emasculated 
Christianity,  a  mere  devitalized  residuum  of  what  is  common  to 
all  religions  of  history.  We  do  not  think  to  make  Christianity 
effective  by  reducing  it  to  its  lowest  terms — we  do  not  expect  to 
make  it  credible  by  stripping  it  of  all  that  challenges  our  think- 
ing powers,  or  wish  to  make  it  universally  acceptable  by  reducing 
it  to  platitudinous  propositions  which  no  man  has  ever  denied. 
Christianity  at  its  lowest  terms  is  never  at  its  highest  power.  We 
ask  to-day  the  same  unhesitating  allegiance  to  the  Lord  as  in 
the  days  of  Paul,  Athanasius,  Luther,  Wicklif  and  Wesley.  He 
is  more  to  us  than  a  Galilean  peasant.  When  Emerson  speaks  of 
the  "noxious  exaggeration  of  the  person  of  Jesus,"  we  fear  that 
he  has  dropped  for  the  moment  his  philosophic  charm  and  ex- 
posed the  discontent  of  a  soul  which  has  not  found  rest  in  any 
supreme  allegiance.    When  we  hear  Matthew  Arnold  saying: 

Now  He  is  dead;  far  hence  He  lies 

In  some  lone  Syrian  town, 
And  on  His  grave  with  shining  eyes 

The  Syrian  stars  look  down, 


CHRIST  THE   CENTRE   OF   CHRISTIANITY  375 

we  turn  rather  to  John  Greenleaf  Whittier's  word  as  far  more 
true  to  our  own  experience: 

Warm,  sweet,  tender,  even  yet 

A  present  help  is  He; 
And  Faith  has  still  its  Olivet, 

And  love  its  Galilee. 

But  whenever  we  find  this  acknowledgment  of  the  Lordship 
of  Christ,  we  find  the  genuine  and  abiding  unity  of  all  his  dis- 
ciples. In  this  unity  ai*e  included  races,  white  and  black  and 
brown,  all  one  in  Jesus  Christ.  In  it  are  included  all  forms  and 
varieties  of  worship — the  venerable  and  stately  service  of  the 
English  cathedral,  the  decorous  programme  of  the  bare  Puritan 
meeting-house,  the  contagious  melody  of  the  camp  meeting  hymn, 
the  appeal  to  reason  made  by  Charles  G.  Finney,  or  to  sensuous 
impression  made  by  flag  and  drum  of  the  Salvation  Army,  the 
sermons  of  Eobertson,  Maurice,  and  Newman,  and  Martineau, 
the  hymns  of  Bernard  and  Cowper  and  Faber — for  no  man  can 
say  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  but  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  In  this 
unity  are  included  many  who  by  reason  of  intellectual  constitu- 
tion or  training  will  prefer  a  formulation  of  faith  which  differs 
from  yours  or  mine.  They  may  halt  over  our  phrases  while  they 
share  our  faith.  They  may  confound  the  person  or  divide  the 
substance,  while  still  following  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  prison  and 
to  death.  They  may  not  use  the  terminology  of  Nicaea  or  Chal- 
cedon,  while  they  still  bear  the  image  and  superscription  of 
Christ.  If  in  the  interest  of  truth  we  must  guard  our  creed- 
subscription,  in  the  interest  of  the  Christian  life  we  must  guard 
against  an  intolerant  intellectualism,  which  would  ask  not  what 
is  a  man's  supreme  allegiance,  but  what  is  its  latest  definition. 
We  are  not  pleading  for  confused  thinking,  still  less  for  the  cessa- 
tion of  thought  on  the  great  Christian  verities.  We  hold  that 
the  great  historic  formulas  of  the  Church  are  the  most  successful 
attempts  to  express  what  is  after  all  inexpressible.  But  we  re- 
joice to  believe  that  the  riches  of  Christ  are  more  than  our  for- 
mida  contains.  We  would  never  make  the  formula  a  condition 
of  discipleship,  but  steadily  affirm  that  discipleship  precedes  the 
formula,  and  may  long  exist  without  it.  I  at  least  would  not 
wish  to  be  a  candidate  for  any  heaven  from  which  William  E. 
Channing  and  James  Martineau  were  excluded.  In  God's  heaven 
shall  be  gathered  out  of  every  people  and  kindred  and  tongue, 


376  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

not  those  who  have  reached  agreement  on  definitions,  but  those 
who,  being  like  Christ,  must  necessarily  be  with  Him.  Thus, 
those  who  are  sure  of  Christ  will  be  very  patient  with  those 
who  are  feeling  their  way  to  Him,  and  the  deepest  loyalty  is 
identical  with  the  most  catholic  sympathy  toward  all  who  bear 
His  name. 

But  if  Christ  be  thus,  the  centre  of  our  thinking,  he  is  the 
centre  of  our  action  as  well.  In  all  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era  the  most  fruitful  periods  have  been  those  when  the  mind  of 
Christ  has  been  most  truly  regnant  in  the  lives  of  men.  The 
great  conviction  that  in  Christ  the  mind  of  God  has  entered  into 
the  life  of  man  has  been  the  source  of  incalculable  moral  energy. 
It  is  not  so  important  to  be  sure  that  Christ  is  like  God,  as  it 
is  to  be  possessed  of  settled  and  immovable  conviction  that  God 
is  like  Christ.  The  Christlikeness  of  God  was  the  renovating 
idea  that  came  to  a  world  which  had  been  fashioning  its  gods 
from  wood  and  stone  or  imagining  its  deity  like  a  Caesar  or  a 
Sennacherib.  But  when  the  tidings  passed  around  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  "'We  have  found  the  Messias,"  then  men  felt  sure 
that  they  had  discovered  the  (juality  of  God.  When  Phillips 
Brooks  was  called  in  to  give  some  religious  instruction  to  Helen 
Kellar,  shut  through  all  her  life  into  darkness  and  isolation,  she 
greeted  him  with  one  sentence,  slowly  spelled  out:  "Please  tell 
me  something  that  you  know  about  God."  That  was  a  modern 
echo  of  the  cry  of  the  ancient  world,  long  groping  in  the  dark: 
"Tell  us  something  that  you  loiow  about  God."  And  since  Christ 
has  told  us  about  God,  He  has  reconstructed  the  life  of  humanity. 
In  His  name  kings  are  crowned,  and  governments  established. 
In  His  name  marriage  is  solemnized,  and  the  forms  of  the  dear 
departed  committed  to  the  earth.  By  His  coming  the  calendar 
was  changed,  and  the  very  books  that  attack  His  claims  are  dated 
from  His  birth.  Ethics  bows  before  His  masterly  insight,  soci- 
ology and  economics  find  in  Him  new  motive  power,  language  is 
filled  with  the  forms  of  His  speech,  childhood  is  hallowed  since 
He  lay  in  Mary's  arms;  and  death  has  lost  its  terror  since  He 
passed  through  it  into  the  endless  life.  He  did  not  come  to 
teach  us  science  or  literature  or  art.  But  in  what  He  did  come 
to  teach,  the  relation  of  God  to  men  and  of  men  to  one  another. 
He  is  still  supreme.  Men  can  no  more  transcend  Christ  than 
they  can  sail  past  the  I^io^th  Star.  Whole  chapters  of  Plato  are 
out  of  date.     "Paradise  Lost"  has  much  teaching  that  is  now 


OUR  FAITH  IN  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES  377 

incredible.  But  just  as  the  sense  of  beauty  culminated  in  Greece 
2,000  years  ago,  so  that  all  our  artists  bend  in  admiration  over  the 
smallest  fragment  of  the  Elgin  marbles,  so  the  revelation  of  good- 
ness culminated  in  Palestine.  The  Parthenon,  battered  and 
crumbling,  shows  us  a  building  beyond  which  architecture  cannot 
go.  We  may  build  something  different :  something  better  or  more 
beautiful  no  man  can  build.  So  in  Christ  we  have  the  supreme 
and  final  revelation  of  the  character  which  is  in  God,  and  may 
be  in  man.  Nothing  shall  supersede  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
or  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  John.    We  are  complete  in  Him. 

And  from  such  a  Christ  goes  forth  the  supreme  energy  for  the 
redemption  of  the  world.  The  method  of  redemption  is  by  in- 
carnation. The  secret  of  Jesus  is  that  the  world  is  to  be  saved 
through  the  entrance  of  strength  into  weakness,  knowledge  into 
ignorance,  light  into  darkness,  the  life  of  God  into  the  life  of 
man.  x\ll  who  follow  Him  are  pursuing  His  method,  and  trying 
to  incarnate  again  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  in  city  and  village,  in 
school  and  college,  in  home  and  Church,  in  business  and  recrea- 
tion. They  are  striving  through  the  slow-moving  centuries  to 
make  the  kingdoms  of  this  world — the  kingdoms  of  literature  and 
science  and  art — the  kingdoms  of  commerce  and  industry — the 
kingdoms  of  government  and  education  and  religion — to  make  all 
these  the  Kingdom  of  Our  liord  and  of  His  Christ. 


OUR    FAITH    IN    THE    HOLY    SCRIPTURES 


The  Rev.  H.  L.  Willett,  Ph.D. 


There  is  both  truth  and  error  in  Chillingworth's  affirmation 
that  "the  Bible  and  the  Bible  alone  is  the  religion  of  Protestant- 
ism." The  truth  lies  in  the  fact  that  Christianity,  as  interpreted 
by  Protestant  testimony,  is  revealed  in  a  book,  and  its  fortunes 
are  indissolubly  joined  with  those  of  that  book;  the  error  consists 
in  the  identification  of  our  holy  faith  with  one  of  its  instruments, 
although  that  instrument  be  the  one  most  honored  of  all.  There 
is  little  danger,  however,  that  the  Bible  will  usurp  undue  impor- 
tance. Christianity  and  the  Scriptures  go  ever  hand  in  hand.  Even 
the  prophet  of  Islam,  whose  followers  have  become  notable  for  their 
devotion  to  the  Koran,   spoke  usually  of  the   Christians  as  the 


378  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

"people  of  the  Book,"  manifesting  thus  his  admiration  for  their 
fidelity  to  the  sacred  word. 

The  Bible  exhibits  the  striking  paradox  of  a  product  greater 
than  its  producer.  Historically  it  is  the  creation  of  the  Church. 
The  Old  Testament  was  wrought  out  by  the  Hebrew  people,  and 
is  the  record  of  their  religious  progress  from  the  days  when,  to 
use  Tennyson's  apt  phrase,  "T^easts  were  slaying  men"  to  the  nobler 
age  when  men  began  to  slay  the  beasts.  Yet  the  Old  Testament 
is  greater  than  the  Hebrew  people,  for  it  is  the  product  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  .working  through  choice  and  elect  souls  in  that 
history,  and  is  the  record  of  an  experience  which  was  itself,  in 
some  true  sense,  the  manifestation  of  the  life  of  God. 

Viewed  as  a  literary  product,  the  New  Testament  was  given 
form  and  fashion  by  the  early  Church.  The  Church  existed  before 
the  Book,  and  in  a  sense  might  be  conceived  as  independent  of  it. 
Though  the  Bible  had  perished  in  early  Christian  persecutions,  the 
Church  would  have  remained,  and  its  testimony  to  its  Master  been 
flung  afar  to  the  rim  of  the  world.  Yet  the  New  Testament  is 
greater  than  the  Apostolic  Church,  for  it  records  not  only  the 
lives  and  words  of  those  high  and  saintly  souls  who  first  interpreted 
the  truth,  but  it  reveals  in  all  his  glorious  perfection  Him  who  was 
made  of  the  seed  of  David  according  to  the  flesh,  but  was  declared 
to  be  the  Son  of  God  with  power  by  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead.  It  is  the  product  of  the  Spirit  of  God  working  in  the  noblest 
souls  of  that  Apostolic  Church  to  bring  forth  a  record  which  should 
be  the  authentic  narrative  of  apostolic  ministries  and  the  authorita- 
tive text-book  of  the  Christian  faith. 

The  Holy  Scriptures  are  the  supreme  instrument  by  which 
Christ  is  revealed  to  men,  and  His  work  directed  throughout  the 
world.  Successive  generations  of  the  youthful  and  aged,  readers 
and  students,  advance  through  the  fair  land  revealed  in  the  book, 
and,  going  on  from  strength  to  strength,  appear  at  last  before 
God  in  Zion.  Missionaries,  inspired  by  the  messages  of  the  Bible, 
count  not  their  lives  dear  that  they  may  finish  their  course  with 
joy  and  the  testimony  which  they  have  received  of  the  Lord;  and 
these  words  of  life,  once  more  incarnate  in  flesh  and  blood,  are 
by  them  re-translated  into  the  strange  speech  of  distant  peoples, 
through  whom  the  power  of  God  is  yet  to  be  revealed. 

The  perils  through  which  the  Bible  has  come,  and  out  of 
which  it  has  emerged  with  undiminished  lustre  and  augmented 
power,  point  to  the  divine  nature  of  the  book  and  the  providential 


OUR  FAITH  IN  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES  379 

forces  which  have  wrought  for  its  preservation.  Tlie  persecutions 
of  imperial  Eome,  which  threatened  to  sweep  the  Church  out  of 
existence,  and  with  it  the  Scriptures;  the  repressive  measures  of 
ecclesiastical  Rome,  which  withheld  the  Bible  from  popular  pos- 
session, and  restricted  its  use  to  monastic  seclusion;  the  derisive 
laughter  of  brilliant  and  scoffing  apostles  of  the  humanities,  deify- 
ing reason  and  predicting  the  downfall  of  Christian  faith;  and 
the  employment  of  the  instruments  of  the  coldest  and  most  re- 
morseless criticism,  whether  trained  and  scientific  or  only  fantastic 
and  reckless,  have  alike  revealed  the  imperishable  nature  of  these 
documents  and  their  ability  to  rise  phoenix-like  from  the  ashes  of 
every  immolation,  and  to  dispel  with  their  radiance  the  shadows  of 
every  night. 

Not  less  wonderful  is  the  variety  of  verdicts  which  have  been 
rendered  regarding  the  origin  and  nature  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
verdicts  which  still  consist  with  deepening  faith  in  their  divine 
character  and  inspiration,  and  which  prove  that  this  book  belongs 
not  to  one  creed  or  confession,  but  to  the  Universal  Church  of 
Christ;  that  it  is  designed  to  meet  the  needs  not  of  one  race  and 
period,  but  of  every  age  and  all  mankind.  No  book  has  ever  enjoyed, 
suffered  and  survived  so  many  definitions  as  the  Bible.  The  earliest 
generation  of  Christians  received  the  Old  Testament  as  a  sacred 
heritage,  safeguarded  as  with  walls  of  fire  by  the  Jewish  people ;  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  were  a?  yet  regarded  rather  as  the 
writings  of  the  friends  of  the  Lord  than  as  Holy  Scripture.  The 
third  century  saw  the  development  of  canonical  theory  and  the 
elevation  of  the  completed  Bible  to  the  seat  of  authority.  The 
middle  ages  regarded  the  book  as  the  very  word  of  God,  and  yet 
subjected  it  to  such  fantastic  and  mystical  interpretations  as  left 
it  but  scanty  elements  of  reality.  The  reformers  discovered  it 
afresh,  searched  it  with  the  passion  of  seekers  after  hidden  treasure, 
and  fearlessly  pronounced  upon  the  relative  value  of  the  different 
parts.  The  post-reformation  divines,  confronted  with  the  claim  of 
an  infallible  Church,  fell  back  for  defense  upon  the  dogma  of  an 
infallible  Book,  and,  unhappily  in  many  instances,  carried  that 
dogma  to  extreme  and  intenable  lengths.  The  critical  movement 
has  reasserted  the  position  of  the  reformers  as  to  the  right  of  free 
inquiry,  and  has  revealed  the  groundlessness  of  the  fears  formerly 
expressed  regarding  the  disastrous  results  of  such  investigation. 
Yet  in  all  these  periods  and  by  all  these  different  interpreters  of 
the  truth,  the  Bible  has  been  held  as  the  word  of  God  in  the  unique 


380  CHURCH    FEDERATION' 

and  authoritative  sense  in  which  the  claim  can  be  made  for  no 
other  book.  To-day  within  the  ranks  of  evangelical  Christians 
varying  attitudes  of  mind  are  maintained  toward  the  Scriptures, 
from  the  definite  and  precise  claims  of  complete  historical  and 
scientific  inerrancy  and  verbal  inspiration  on  the  one  hand,  to  the 
less  easily  defined  but  no  less  reverent  acceptance  of  the  Scriptures 
as  the  record  of  divine  revelation  to  the  world,  a  complex  of  docu- 
ments with  evident  signs  of  human  workmanship  and  imperfection, 
but  marked  by  such  spiritual  unity  and  such  divine  passion  as  to  be 
worthy  of  no  lesser  title  than  the  word  of  God.  Men  of  all  types 
within  these  rather  wide  limits  find  in  the  Scriptures  ample  attesta- 
tion of  their  sufficiency  as  the  instrument  of  revelation,  and  ample 
proof  of  the  impregnable  nature  of  the  truths  which  they  disclose. 

Our  faith  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  rests  upon  their  inspiration. 
That  claim  they  make  for  themselves.  Yet  our  belief  in  their  in- 
spiration rests  less  upon  their  claim  than  upon  the  appeal  which 
they  make  to  conscience  and  life.  Most  sacred  books  claim  in- 
spiration; the  Bible  manifests  it.  Of  this  spiritual  and  compelling 
quality  resident  in  these  documents  it  is  not  easy  to  summon  words 
to  form  an  adequate  definition.  Some  there  are  who  encounter 
no  difficulty  in  the  effort.  Others  stand  hesitant  where  definition 
is  so  constantly  outrun  by  fact.  The  marvellous  vitality  of  the 
Scriptures  renders  obsolete  the  statement  of  yesterday,  and  com- 
pels the  reverent  to  stand  with  uncovered  head  in  the  presence 
of  a  living  power. 

It  is  fitting  that  a  message  of  such  character  and  urgency  should 
have  an  adequate  embodiment.  The  Bible  makes  no  claim  to  lit- 
erary primacy  among  the  writings  of  the  ages,  and  yet  its  charm  is 
imperishable.  It  holds  easily  the  chief  place  in  literature.  Its 
pages  are  a  mine  of  precious  things.  The  Book  of  Job  is  the 
unapproached  masterpiece  among  the  world's  greatest  poems.  The 
Book  of  Psalms  contains  the  most  perfect  lyrics  ever  penned.  The 
Proverbs  are  unmatched  in  perfection  of  form  and  depth  of  mean- 
ing, "Jewels  five  words  long,  that  on  the  stretched  forefinger  of 
all  time  sparkle  forever."  The  stories  of  the  Bible  are  more  thrill- 
ing than  the  pages  of  romance.  The  oratory  of  Moses,  Isaiah,  Peter 
and  Paul,  not  to  speak  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth,  suffers  in  no  degree 
by  comparison  with  the  classic  utterances  of  ancient  or  modern 
days.  And  the  lives  here  portrayed  are  those  of  the  most  outstand- 
ing men  in  history,  a  galaxy  of  stars  that  circle  forever  about  the 
most  radiant  Life  of  the  ages. 


OVR  FAITH  IN  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES  381 

The  Bible  is  equally  the  supreme  book  and  the  inspiration  of 
the  master  spirits  of  literature.  It  is  the  source  and  fount  from 
which,  through  a  thousand  channels,  the  world  has  been  refreshed. 
Dante  and  Milton  are  but  splendid  echoes  of  Holy  Scriptures. 
Shakespeare,  Wordsworth,  Tennyson  and  Browning  are  saturated 
with  the  truths  and  words  of  the  Bible.  George  Eliot  and  Victor 
Hugo  found  in  this  volume  their  finest  ideals.  Carlyle,  Newman 
and  Ruskin  learned  it  as  children,  and  their  sentences  are  inter- 
woven with  its  phrases.  The  prophets  of  literature  in  every  age 
have  stood  before  the  Bible  reverent,  and  would  join  with  Milton 
when  he  declares:  "There  are  no  songs  to  be  compared  with  the 
songs  of  Zion;  no  orations  to  equal  those  of  the  prophets,  and 
politics  equal  to  those  the  Scriptures  can  teach  us."  Eobert  Louis 
Stevenson  gives  the  verdict  of  the  master-writers  of  the  world 
when  he  says:  "Written  in  the  East,  these  characters  live  forever 
in  the  West;  written  in  one  province,  they  pervade  the  world; 
penned  in  rude  times,  they  are  prized  more  and  more  as  civilization 
advances;  product  of  antiquity,  they  come  home  to  the  business 
and  bosoms  of  men,  women  and  children  in  modern  days." 

But  our  faith  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  does  not  depend  upon  their 
literary  excellence,  though  that  yields  never-ceasing  satisfaction. 
It  is  the  deeper  fountains  that  must  refresh  the  thirsty  world. 
Further  down  lie  the  cool  waters,  beyond  the  reach  of  even  the 
masters  of  literature.  They  have  nothing  to  draw  with;  and  the 
well  is  deep.  The  living  water  is  drawn  from  the  depths  by  the 
hands  of  the  prophets  and  apostles  who  speak  through  this  Book. 
Into  every  land  its  streams  have  gone.  Its  ethical  and  spiritual 
influence  upon  the  race  has  been  beyond  conception  great.  It  has 
been  in  every  land  the  inspiration  of  efforts  toward  justice,  free- 
dom, knowledge,  progress,  uprightness,  purity  and  the  fear  and 
love  of  Grod.  Judas  Maccabaeus  caught  from  its  pages  the  fire  of 
his  patriotism;  the  laws  of  Alfred  and  Charlemagne  were  based 
upon  it ;  it  inspired  the  canvases  of  Era  Angelico  and  Raphael^  and 
the  music  of  Handel  and  Mendelssohn.  Gustavus  Adolphus  read 
it  before  he  charged  at  Lutzen,  and  Cromwell  brooded  over  it  on 
the  eve  of  Naseby ;  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  learned  from  it  his  love  of 
the  poor,  John  Howard  his  compassion  for  the  suffering,  William 
Wilberforce  his  sympathy  for  the  slave,  and  Lord  Shaftesbury  his 
zeal  in  behalf  of  the  unfortunate.  It  commanded  the  labors  of 
Origen  and  Jerome,  it  fashioned  the  thoughts  of  Athanasius  and 
Augustine;  the  "Summa"  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  and  the  "Imitatio 


382  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Cliristi"  of  Thomas  a  Kempis  were  but  attempts  to  set  forth  its 
theological  perfection  and  its  spiritual  power.  Single  and  chance 
utterances  from  its  pages  transformed  a  hotblooded  and  reckless 
youth  of  Tagaste  into  the  greatest  theologian  of  the  early  Church; 
a  conforming  and  perplexed  monk  into  the  champion  of  reforma- 
tion ;  a  gay  young  nobleman  of  Navarre  in  the  University  of  Paris 
into  the  greatest  missionary  of  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church;  and 
a  globe-circler  and  adventurer  in  the  heart  of  Africa  into  a  Chris- 
tian statesman,  a  disciple  of  David  Livingstone  and  a  lifelong  be- 
liever in  foreign  missions. 

Such  and  a  hundred  other  proofs  confirm  our  faith  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  Our  most  imperative  task  is  not  their  defense  but 
their  study.  They  are  less  in  need  of  apologetic  than  of  appro- 
priation. The  greatest  peril  which  the  Bible  faces  to-day  is  neither 
persecution,  suppression,  ridicule  nor  criticism.  It  is  neglect.  The 
very  complexity  and  richness  of  our  modern  life  crowd  the  Bible 
aside.  The  very  arts  and  studies  which  the  Bible  has  inspired 
and  fostered  have  become  more  attractive,  and,  like  undutiful 
daughters,  drive  the  mother  from  the  home  she  has  made.  Ignor- 
ance of  the  Bible  was  perhaps  excusable  in  times  when  knowledge 
was  rare  and  hardly  accessible  to  any  but  the  clerical  class.  Even 
so,  it  seems  astonishing  that  the  Bible  should  have  been  neglected 
at  any  period.  In  the  days  of  the  Eeformation  there  was  a  story 
current  of  a  priest  who  thought  that  Greek  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment were  two  recent  heresies !  Luther  affirms  that  he  was  twenty- 
six  before  he  had  read  a  complete  Bible.  A  professor  in  the 
Sorbonne  declared  that  he  was  more  than  fifty  years  old  before  he 
knew  what  the  New  Testament  was.  Carlstadt  says  that  he  had 
been  a  doctor  of  divinity  for  eight  years  before  he  had  read  the 
whole  of  the  New  Testament.  The  reaction  from  this  state  of 
ignorance  was  very  great  under  the  leadership  of  the  reformers. 
Luther's  German  Bible  went  into  every  hamlet  in  the  fatherland. 
The  successors  of  Wyclif  issued  nine  different  versions  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  England  between  1525  and  1611.  It  was  this  fact 
which  created  the  nation  anew.  It  was  a  Bible-reading  England 
which  shattered  the  Armada;  it  was  a  people  who  loved  the  word 
of  God  that  produced  Hooker,  Shakespeare,  Spenser,  Sydney, 
Raleigh  and  Drake,  awoke  the  burning  righteousness  of  Puritanism, 
broke  the  tyranny  of  the  Stuart?,  suppressed  the  star  chamber  and 
sent  its  soldiers  to  battle  with  Bibles  in  their  knapsacks. 

A  renaissance  of  such  study  of  the  Scriptures  is  needed  to-day. 


OVR  FAITH  IN  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES  383 

The  apparatus  is  abundant.  The  materials  are  inexhaustible. 
The  professions  of  interest  are  constant.  All  that  is  needed  is 
that  the  work  shall  actually  be  done.  The  proofs  that  it  is  not 
being  done  to  any  such  extent  or  with  any  such  devotion  as  the 
reports  of  the  Bible  societies  or  the  superficial  indications  of  Bible 
study  organizations  might  at  first  give  warrant  for  believing,  are 
apparent  upon  closer  inspection.  Family  worship  with  its  ac- 
companying use  of  the  Scriptures  is  declining,  if  indeed  that  is  not 
too  mild  a  statement;  biblical  instruction  in  the  Sunday  Schools, 
even  if  it  approached  the  pedagogical  standard  of  the  public  school, 
which  it  does  not,  could  not  supply  the  material  required  in  the 
brief  period  allotted  to  it;  the  programme  of  public  education  ex- 
cludes, or  all  but  excludes,  biblical  studies  from  the  curriculum; 
the  natural  desire  to  keep  up  with  the  literature  of  the  day  leaves 
scant  time  to  the  most  interested  reader  of  the  Bible  to  pursue  a 
line  of  study  to  which  he  is  not  compelled  by  inclination  or  profes- 
sional responsibility. 

The  result  of  this  condition  is  to  be  seen  in  a  disheartening 
degree  of  ignorance  respecting  the  Bible  on  the  part  of  young  men 
and  women  fully  equipped  in  other  regards ;  in  a  certain  traditional 
knowledge  of  the  Bible  possessed  by  many  people  in  the  Churches, 
unrefreshed,  however,  by  recent  study,  and  therefore  the  most  likely 
to  be  jostled  and  perplexed  by  any  utterances  out  of  strict  harmony 
with  settled  views ;  and  in  the  wider  circle  of  the  community,  such 
limited  knowledge  of  Biblical  teaching  as  gives  rise  to  mistaken 
beliefs  regarding  the  Bible,  to  doubt  and  skepticism.  These  un- 
happy conditions  will  yield  only  to  a  steady  and  aggressive  cam- 
paign of  Bible  study,  based  upon  sound  knowledge  of  the  Book  and 
enthusiastic  devotion  to  the  cause  of  religious  education.  For  this 
the  time  is  opportune,  the  means  abundant  and  the  volunteers  a 
great  host.  The  beginning  of  every  great  and  beneficent  revolution 
in  the  life  of  the  Church  has  been  a  revival  of  Bible  study.  May 
not  our  dreams  of  civic  righteousness,  social  regeneration  and 
Christian  union  come  true  as  our  eyes  are  lifted  from  the  prayerful 
study  of  the  Scriptures  to  the  morning  skies,  where  the  banners  of 
God  are  hung  out  as  the  signs  of  promise  for  the  new  day  ? 

Our  faith  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  in  the  last  issue  the  result 
of  our  faith  in  Him  of  Whom  they  speak.  He  is  their  central  and 
€ommanding  figure;  His  their  supreme  and  compelling  voice. 
Many  teachers  speak  through  these  pages,  but  He  excels  them  all. 
Many  men  have  part  in  the  drama  of  redemption — one  alone  is  the 


384  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Son  of  Man.  Many  have  wrought  as  servants  of  God — only  one  as 
the  Son  of  God.  Mingled  voices  there  are  here,  of  triumph  and 
defeat,  but  above  them  all  sounds  one  clear  word:  "Fear  not,  I 
liave  overcome."  Beyond  all  other  conquests  is  His  victory, 
througli  which  His  followers  are  already  more  than  conquerors; 
beyond  all  love  is  His,  that  seeks  and  yearns  and  "will  not  let  us 
go";  beyond  all  comfort  His  that  tarries  all  the  night,  "until  the 
day  be  cool,  and  the  shadows  flee  away." 

Many  reasons  there  are  why  the  Holy  Scriptures  should  have 
highest  place  in  the  reverence,  affection  and  confidence  of  men. 
But  the  chief  is  that  they  testify  of  Him.  The  Father  of  whom 
He  spoke  is  disclosed  in  perfection  only  here,  and  something  of  that 
eternity  which  He  had  with  the  Father  before  the  world  was  abides 
in  the  Book.  It  rends  the  heavens  to  reveal  the  endless  life.  It 
sets  ladders  of  hope  against  the  sky.  It  speaks  of  life  with  God  as 
of  a  treasure  already  held,  upon  which  the  hand  of  death  can  never 
rest. 

For  centuries  the  Bible  has  stood  as  the  revelation  of  the  life 
and  will  of  God.  For  centuries  and  millenniums  yet  it  shall  en- 
dure as  the  priceless  possession  of  the  race,  the  inspiration  of  all 
holy  living — the  imperishable  record  of  the  human  life  of  God  and 
the  divine  possibilities  of  man.  It  will  grow  in  beauty  and  author- 
ity as  new  light  breaks  forth  from  it.  Men  pass,  but  the  Holy 
Scriptures  endure.  "All  flesh  is  grass,  and  all  the  glory  of  man  is 
as  the  flower  of  the  field.  The  grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth, 
but  the  Word  of  our  God  shall  stand  forever." 


OUR    FAITH    IN   THE   HOLY  SPIRIT 
The  Rev.  Bishop  W.  F.  McDowell,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


"Hear,  oh  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Lord."  Our  unity 
is  in  Him.  Our  common  faith  is  not  in  ritual  or  confession,  but 
in  Him.  Our  faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  an  addition  to  our 
faith  in  a  personal  God  and  in  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  necessary 
crown  and  completion  of  that  faith.  The  creed  cannot  stop  until 
it  says  this.     Life  and  logic  alike  compel  us  to  go  on  to  the  end. 


MR.  JOHN  R.  MOTT 


WOODROW   WILSON,  LL.D. 


MR.  J.  CAMPBELL  WHITE 


MR.^VON   OGDEN   yOGT 


OVR    FAITE    IN    THE    HOLY    SPIRIT  385 

Nor  does  this  perfect  faith  end  in  itself.  Once  it  found  expres- 
sion in  life  and  literature.  Once  again  it  thus  utters  itself.  The 
Holy  Catholic  Church  is  its  organized  outcome,  the  Christian  State 
its  product,  and  the  life  everlasting,  personal  and  social,  its  final 
result.  Nor  is  this  faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit  something  special,  the 
particular  mark  and  property  of  the  mystic  and  the  pietist.  No 
faith  is  complete  in  which  this  is  wanting.  This  alone  is  a  crip- 
pled and  imperfect  belief.  This  article  of  the  creed  roots  in  the 
same  soil  as  do  the  others,  the  soil  of  fact,  of  history  and  sound 
philosophy.  The  incarnation  is  not  more  historic  than  the  coming 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  word  Immanuel  did  not  cease  to  have 
meaning  for  men  and  the  Church  when  Jesus  went  away.  God  is 
still  with  us.  In  the  Holy  Spirit,  Christ  is  present  in  the  world. 
In  the  Holy  Spirit,  God  is  immanent  among  men. 

In  these  high  matters  definitions  are  somewhat  in  the  nature  of 
vanity.  We  get  our  best  definitions  not  in  terms  of  the  dictionary, 
but  in  terms  of  life.  The  person  is  the  consummate  expression  of 
the  idea.  These  three  articles  of  the  creed  surely  declare  an  abid- 
ing and  rational  faith  in  one  God  forever  living  and  present  in 
human  life,  one  God,  not  three — personal,  immanent  and  sovereign. 
This  article  of  our  faith  has  been  too  much  ignored  on  one  hand 
and  unwisely  used  on  the  other.  It  has  been  left  too  much  to  the 
exaggerated  use  of  mystic  and  fanatic.  These  in  turn  have  treated 
it  in  fantastic  and  irrational  fashion,  to  the  scandal  both  of  truth 
and  piety.  Our  age  has  made  some  notable  doctrinal  recoveries. 
It  has  recovered  the  truths  of  God's  Fatherhood,  and  man's  son- 
ship  and  brotherhood  in  Jesus.  It  has  recovered  the  person  of 
Christ  and  has  rescued  the  Bible  for  life's  uses.  If  it  shall  set  our 
faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit  in  its  true  place  in  life  and  theology,  it  will 
deserve  well  of  succeeding  ages. 

This  saves  faith  in  a  personal  God  from  being  faith  in  an 
absentee,  and  it  saves  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  from  being  simply  a 
belief  in  an  ancient  though  true  history.  It  vitalizes  worship, 
rationalizes  belief  and  makes  activity  effectual.  The  other  articles 
save  this  from  mysticism,  vagueness  and  easy  fanaticism.  They 
give  this  an  adequate  basis  of  history,  reality  and  definiteness. 
This  gives  them  a  continued  force  in  life.  This  saves  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  from  being  a  mere  though  correct  philosophy,  or  a 
simple  but  lofty  system  of  religious  truth.  This  keeps  His  words 
spirit  and  life. 

Here  we  touch  the  relation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  Holy 


386  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Scriptures.  This,  at  present,  is  theology's  sensitive  nerve.  And 
here  once  more  we  have  not  always  dealt  with  the  Holy  Spirit's 
presence  in  a  large  and  commanding  way.  Our  conceptions  and 
definitions  ought  to  issue  at  our  highest  levels.  We  have  done  well 
to  assert  and  emphasize  the  faith  that  the  Holy  Spirit  once  moved 
men  to  write  and  speak,  but  we  have  found  to  our  sorrow  that  our 
own  age  is  sadly  lacking  in  both  literature  and  speech  thus  brought 
into  being.  The  inspiration  of  far-off  men  has  small  meaning  to 
a  generation  which  has  not  so  much  as  heard  whether  there  is  any 
Holy  Spirit.  I  crave  such  extension  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  influence 
as  will  bring  us  a  new  literature,  whether  it  be  newspaper  or  book, 
informed  and  created  by  that  same  Spirit;  such  an  extension  as 
will  bring  to  our  age  a  new  speech,  public  and  private,  religious 
and  political,  which  shall  bear  again  the  true  prophetic  note.  God's 
real  presence  was  felt  in  that  ancient  speech,  and  under  the  ever- 
living  Spirit  is  still  felt  in  that  ancient  literature.  Our  age  needs 
nothing  more  deeply  than  a  new  race  of  writers  and  speakers  who 
shall  speak  and  write  again  as  they  are  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
I  seek  to  honor  the  doctrine  and  truth  of  inspiration  not  by  limit- 
ing but  by  enlarging  it.  I  am  persuaded  to  modify  a  phrase  of 
Horace  Bushnell's — that  the  conviction  of  the  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures  depends  not  chiefly  upon  an  argument  for  it  concluded, 
but  upon  a  sense  of  it  begotten.  A  generation  whose  eyes  are  not 
opened  will  not  behold  any  wondrous  things  out  of  His  law.  The 
present  Spirit  makes  the  literature  quick  and  powerful.  The 
jnodern  man  as  he  reads  and  studies,  writes  and  speaks,  lives  and 
labors,  must  be  moved  by  that  same  spirit.  I  am  afraid  of  a  creed 
or  a  Bible  in  the  hands  of  men  who  are  not  ruled  and  guided  in 
their  interpretation  and  use  of  both  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Once 
there  was  an  inspiration  of  literature,  an  inspiration  of  speech,  an 
inspiration  of  activity,  an  inspiration  of  life.  The  best  legacies 
remaining  to  us  out  of  the  past  are  the  products  of  that  inspiration. 
May  the  God  of  our  fathers  be  with  us  as  He  was  with  our  fathers  I 
Several  notable  terms  emerge  from  the  N"ew  Testament  which 
must  ever  be  the  starting  point  and  basis  of  our  understanding  of 
this  vital  truth.  These  descriptive  terms  are  not  academic.  They 
bear  upon  truth,  life  and  activity.  They  are  such  terms  as  "guide 
into  truth,"  "remembrancer  of  teachings,"  "Paraclete  and  helper." 
No  one  phrase  or  word  will  characterize  our  age.  It  is  a  truth- 
seeking  age.  The  historical  spirit  and  method  are  dominant  in 
study.     Character  never   had   a  harder   fight.     Activity  is  over- 


OVR    FAITH    IN    THE    HOLY    SPIRIT  387 

whelming.  Old  teachings,  new  truth,  or  at  least  new  interpreta- 
tions and  applications,  the  eternal  struggle,  and  our  world-wide 
activities — these  are  the  outstanding  facts  of  our  time.  With  these 
as  outstanding  and  backlying  assumptions  any  faith  must  deal. 
Our  faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit  must  deal  with  every  one  of  these,  and 
more.  Take  them  for  a  moment  in  their  order.  The  most  wel- 
come cry  of  recent  years  found  voice  in  the  words,  "Back  to 
Christ."  It  was  our  passionate  appeal  for  reality.  To  many  it 
seemed  a  finality.  Men  began  afresh  to  study  the  life  and  teach- 
ings of  Jesus.  He  almost  became  a  cult.  That  cry  was  as  good 
a  single  cry  as  ever  was  raised,  but  no  single  cry  is  ever  finally  and 
fully  good.  More  than  one  felt  the  imperfection  and  disappoint- 
ment that  in  some  quarters  found  expression.  What,  then,  shall  we 
say?  The  return  to  Christ  without  the  Spirit  is  as  onesided  and 
fruitless  as  the  attempt  to  go  on  with  the  Spirit  without  the  life 
and  teachings  of  Jesus.  Peter  at  Pentecost  would  have  had  no 
chance  without  the  truths  which  the  Spirit  brought  in  such  pow«r 
to  his  remembrance.  He  would  have  had  no  chance  with  those 
truths  except  for  the  cloven  tongues  like  as  of  fire  and  the  rushing 
mighty  wind.  There  is  fuel  and  there  is  fire;  but  to  warm  the 
world,  fire  and  fuel  must  be  brought  together.  Back  to  Christ  in 
the  Spirit,  on  with  Christ  in  the  Spirit — then  will  the  Personal  God 
and  His  word  get  their  chance  in  the  world! 

So  with  this  matter  of  new  truth.  Many  in  our  age  of  inquiry 
and  freedom  loudly  assert  their  liberty  of  research.  Many  others 
in  fear  and  caution  cry  out  against  this  freedom  as  dangerous. 
Some  in  their  pride  are  eager  to  go  without  a  guide.  Some  in  their 
laziness  prefer  to  stay  where  they  are.  Some  express  confidence 
in  the  Guide  but  profoundly  fear  to  enlarge  their  mental  geography 
by  any  new  explorations  even  under  His  guidance.  They  want 
him  to  guide  them  around  in  their  familiar  but  precious  garden. 
If  half  way  up  the  mountain  they  look  back  upon  their  doctrinal 
dooryard,  it  has  either  wholly  disappeared  or  looks  so  small  that 
they  are  scared.  It  is  the  overthrow  of  faith.  Now,  what  is  the 
solvent  for  all  this  ?  Surely  such  a  faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit  that 
in  our  search  for  truth  we  shall  not  go  anywhere  without  Him  or 
be  afraid  to  go  an5rwhere  with  Him.  Here  is  the  place  to  knit 
together  the  intellectual  difficulties  of  our  age  with  the  Spirit  which 
is  the  safety  and  guarantee  of  truth  in  all  ages.  Or,  take  the  rela- 
tion of  the  Spirit  to  life  itself,  made  up  of  temptations,  joys,  sor- 
rows, victories,  defeats,  the  common  task,  the  daily  round  of  duties 


388  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

and  pleasures.  It  is  really  quite  the  fashion  to  envy  the  men  who 
knew  Jesus  in  the  flesh  and  to  count  that  they  had  an  advantage 
over  us.    It  finds  expression  in  the  song  of  Childhood : 

I  should  like  to  have  been  with  him  then. 

It  sounds  like  faith  and  is  really  unbelief.  It  has  not  been  a  dis- 
advantage to  life  that  Jesus  went  away.  He  spoke  the  truth  about 
that.  Life  has  justified  His  own  words  on  that  subject.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  "Dynamic  of  Christianity." 

The  modern  world  has  failed  to  enter  into  its  heritage.  It  has 
forgotten  what  Jesus  said.  No  other  religious  teacher  was  ever 
so  concerned  about  life.  He  did  not  leave  life  at  a  disadvantage. 
Our  faith  in  Him  calls  for  a  new  faith  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  I  am 
not  concerned  to  make  a  new  definition,  but  I  should  count  it  high 
joy  to  belong  to  a  generation  that  should  walk  up  the  shining 
heights  with  Christ  to  His  own  conception  of  the  value  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  for  life  as  well  as  truth.  So  our  activities  have  been 
enlarged  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  have  done  and  are  doing  the 
"greater  works."  It  is  our  shame  that  we  are  doing  them  so  badly 
and  in  such  a  smaU  way.  We  declare  to-night  our  faith  in  a  Per- 
sonal God,  and  in  His  Son,  in  His  Book,  and  in  His  Holy  Spirit. 
And  this  we  do  in  a  city  and  an  age  which  wait  not  for  the  recital  of 
a  faith  perfectly  stated ;  not  for  the  logical  proof  of  a  far-off  inspira- 
tion; not  for  the  uninspired  recital  of  noble  but  distant  achieve- 
ments ;  for  the  portrayal  of  a  perfect  God,  or  the  defence  of  a  noble 
book.  We  do  all  this  in  an  age  which  waits  for  such  new  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  will  make  quick  and  powerful  truth  once 
given ;  such  power  as  will  endue  the  modern  man  with  such  unction 
from  the  Holy  One  as  will  enable  this  modern  man  to  make  New 
York  or  Chicago  new  cities  of  God;  such  power  as  will  right  the 
world's  organized  wrongs  and  establish  the  Kingdom  of  truth ;  such 
power  as  will  overthrow  greed  and  graft,  and  all  wickedness  in  high 
places  and  low. 

I  venture  to  say  that  we  are  nowhere  near  the  borders  of  over- 
confidence  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  still  too  truly  an  article  of 
the  creed  rather  than  an  article  of  living  and  potent  faith.  Yet 
this  complete  faith  is  the  victory  that  overcomes  the  world.  It 
happened  in  God's  kindness  that  the  men  of  my  generation  knew 
Phillips  Brooks.  I  close  this  address  with  some  words  of  his  which 
I  make  my  own : 


OUR    FAITH    IN    THE    HOLY    SPIRIT  389 

"The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  effectively  present  deity.  He  is  God  con- 
tinually in  the  midst  of  men  and  touching  their  daily  lives.  He 
is  the  God  of  perennial  and  daily  aspiration,  the  Comforter  to  whom 
we  look  in  the  most  pressing  needs  for  the  comforts  which  fill  our 
common  life.  He  is  the  God  of  continual  contact  with  mankind. 
The  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  a  continual  protest  against  every 
recurring  tendency  to  separate  God  from  the  current  world." 

This  is  our  Hving  faith.  It  begins  with  God  the  Father,  it  ends 
with  the  life  everlasting. 


THE  ESSENTIAL  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCHES 


ADDRESS 
President  Joseph  W.  Mauck,  LL.D. 


Through  the  aimouucements  and  the  programme  oi'  this  Con- 
ference has  run  the  great  truth  that  the  Christian  Church  univer- 
sal has  a  single  high  aim — the  Christ-life  in  the  life  of  men. 
Other  bodies,  not  here  represented  by  delegates,  adhere  with  like 
ardor  to  this  aim,  and,  in  their  conception  of  truth,  with  equal 
loyalty  follow  the  banner  of  Christ. 

Divisions  the  Resultant  of  Psychologic  Law. — It  is  a  psycho- 
logic law  that  the  mind  cannot  dwell  upon  two  subjects  with  equal 
attention,  and  unusual  emphasis  on  one  aspect  of  a  truth  robs  an- 
other of  its  due.  One  view  of  a  truth  appeals  to  one  mind  more 
forcibly  than  to  another,  and  a  resultant  of  emphases  is  a  variety 
of  statements,  forms,  practices  and  organizations  in  a  vast  church 
which  has  a  single  motive. 

One  in  Essentials,  Many  in  Incidentals. — Neither  body  repre- 
sents the  whole  truth  in  a  balanced  emphasis,  and  each  is  in  turn 
but  an  approximate  exponent  of  its  own  adherents.  The  differ- 
ences among  individuals  of  a  given  denomination  are  as  numerous 
and  often  as  vital  as  those  which  separate  the  same  body  from 
others.  The  representative  Methodist  and  the  representative  Luth- 
eran find  that  they  have  more  points  of  agreement  than  of  dissent, 
that  in  the  estimation  of  each  the  harmonies  are  more  vital  than 
the  discords,  and  that  within  their  respective  households  of  faith 
are  dissents  of  equal  import.  The  representative  Protestant  and 
the  representative  Roman  Catholic  have  a  like  experience  when  they 
rise  above  the  smoke  and  clouds  of  a  polemic  history  and  are 
equally  attracted  by  the  sun  of  righteousness,  the  Clirist-life,  the 
highest  aim  and  profession  of  each. 

Mind-Limitations  the  Source  of  Divisions. — The  mind  unequal 
to  a  perfect  grasp  of  a  rounded  truth  magnifies  differences,  min- 
imizes harmonies,  assumes  that  a  difference  in  one  particular  is 
a  difference  in  many,  and  in  its  protest  on  one  subordinate  truth 
loses  sight  of  the  cardinal  truths  held  by  all. 

A  mode  of  the  soul  dwarfed  in  one  man  appears  in  all  its  power 
in  another.  Impulse,  reverence,  faith,  fervency,  spiritual  com- 
munion, benevolence,  sense  of  beautv  and  other  emotions  and  senti- 


394  CHUROH    FEDERATION 

ments  are  as  limitless  in  variet}^  as  the  individuals  composing  the 
great  sum  of  humanity.  Those  of  approximate  minds  and  tem- 
peraments group  themselves  into  different  bodies,  with  beliefs, 
forms  and  control  ranging  from  undiminished  emotion  and  indi- 
vidualism to  the  highest  intellectuality,  orderly  forms  of  worship 
and  precise  government,  each  man  electing  that  which  is  the  apt- 
est  medium  for  the  expression  of  his  own  soul. 

Signal  Progress  Toward  Unity. — The  all-loving  Father  wha 
suffered  shortcomings  because  of  the  hardness  of  heart  in  the  olden 
times,  who  gave  to  His  creatures  souls  with  limits  which  have  hith- 
erto bred  divisions  in  names  and  practices,  and  with  whom  a  thou- 
sand years  are  as  a  day,  can  scarcely  view  those  divisions  as  the 
fruit  of  perverse  sin  alone,  and  from  His  high  view-point  a  distinct 
advance  has  been  made  from  the  bloody  exterminations  by  his 
ancient  chosen  people  to  Carnegie  Hall  in  the  morning  of  the 
twentieth  century.  Indeed,  it  is  a  hopeful  advance  from  the  recent 
dominant  institutionalism  to  the  emphasis  now  laid  by  all  Christian 
people  upon  the  Christ  exemplified  in  individual  life,  and  to  the 
current  unmistakable  call  for  a  movement  to  the  Christ  as  the 
remedy  for  ills,  individual,  social,  industrial  and  commercial. 

Adherence  to  name,  pride  in  numbers  and  organic  prestige  are 
still  in  evidence  and  inseparable  from  the  imperfections  of  our 
natures,  but  we  are  at  a  milestone,  to  be  memorable,  upon  the 
higher  life  of  mutual  purpose  and  mutual  help.  Wales  throbs 
with  a  profound  awakening,  the  Christian  world  rejoices,  asking 
how  we  shall  receive  so  great  salvation,  and  none  inquires  by  what 
name  these  new  Christians  are  to  be  called  nor  what  Church  claims 
the  erstwhile  unknown  preacher. 

Response  for  Free  Baptists. — This  assignment  in  the  pro- 
gramme has  been  made  upon  behalf  of  a  people  comparatively  small 
in  numbers,  but  heartily  responsive  to  the  spirit  of  the  Convention. 
We  labor  mainly  in  the  small  centres  of  population  and  rural  lands, 
whence  are  drawn  many  leaders  in  the  marvelous  activities  of  the 
princely  cities,  and  in  which  were  reared  and  initially  trained  a 
large  number  of  the  distinguished  men  composing  this  Federation. 
In  the  less  dense  settlements  is  daily  enjoyed  that  personal  ac- 
quaintance which  is  vital  to  mutual  understanding  and  which  is 
cultivated  in  the  larger  mass  by  such  felicitous  conventions  as  this. 

Rural  Influences  Friendly  to  Cooperation. — The  country 
Churches  of  many  names,  unduly  multiplied  by  the  zealous  denom- 


TRAINING  FOR  COUNTRY  MINISTERS  395 

inationalism  of  the  past,  and  now  straitened  in  numbers,  money 
and  efficiency  by  migrations  to  the  cities,  are  in  large  numbers 
losing  their  identity,  their  members  going  to  Churches  of  other 
names  or  falling  away  from  the  Church  entirely. 

This  process  is  forcing  an  intrinsic  spiritual  unity  which 
evolves  several  types  of  organic  federation  prophetic  of  the  wider 
movement  sought  here  and  now.  The  country  church,  the  spiritual 
mother  of  many  city  pastors,  merits  the  thought  and  generous 
nurture  of  the  churches  which  draw  their  leaders  from  her,  and 
she  ofl'ers  a  most  fruitful. home  mission  field. 

By  the  necessity  of  environment,  she  offers  rare  opportunities 
for  concrete  cooperation  under  federated  influences  which  would 
conserve  the  survival  of  those  which  are  fittest  for  the  several 
conmiunities. 

Training  for  Country  Ministers. — Her  ministers,  often  thread- 
bare in  raiment,  food  and  housing,  usually  golden  in  faith,  indus- 
try and  devotion,  frequently  called  directly  from  the  laity,  imitat- 
ibg  the  tentmaker  apostle  by  gaining  a  livelihood  for  their  fam- 
ilies from  secular  pursuits,  are  giving  high  service  to  the  Church. 
But  they  lack  that  Ivind  of  study  and  personal  contact  with  better 
trained  men  which  gives  a  broad  view  of  the  Church  as  a  whole 
and  a  just  conception  of  the  coordination  of  their  Churches  with 
those  of  the  cities,  home  and  foreign  missions,  Sunday  Schools, 
education,  systematic  giving  and  the  like. 

Nor  can  they  appropriate  the  advantages  of  the  finely  equipped 
and  ably  manned  divinity  seminaries  at  the  centres  of  population. 
From  these  they  are  barred  by  distance,  by  financial  limits,  by 
mode  of  thought  and  life,  and  by  the  imperative  demands  of  the 
churches  which  would  be  pastorless  if  they  were  to  withdraw  for 
exclusive  study.  ISTor  is  it  certain  that  a  training  under  metropol- 
itan conditions  would  be  suited  to  the  simpler,  not  to  say  more  real, 
life  of  their  parishes. 

They  cannot  go  to  existing  seminaries,  but  training  schools  may 
be  brought  to  them.  Not  of  the  kind  necessary  for  other  ministers 
— with  great  endowments,  buildings,  libraries,  museums  and  elab- 
orate courses  of  instruction — but  of  a  simpler  type,  supporting 
instructors  versatile  enough  to  teach  a  variety  of  subjects,  with 
small  libraries  selected  for  the  local  needs,  courses  largely  elective 
and  embracing  essential  subjects  in  their  general  aspects,  lectures 
by  mission  and  Sunday  School  secretaries,  evangelists  and  others, 


396  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

formal  theology  and  criticism  relegated  to  a  distinctly  subordinate 
place. 

Such  inexpensive  schools,  fostered  by  Federations  of  Churches, 
are  easily  practicable  in  numbers  and  distribution  suited  to  a  host 
of  country  pastors  while  they  minister  at  the  regular  services  of 
their  Churches  at  accessible  distances. 


and  Academies  as  Centres. — Denominational  colleges 
and  academies  are  strategically  located,  a  few  with  struggling 
theological  departments  of  the  denominational  type,  but  the  greater 
number  offering  no  particular  advantages  to  ministers.  And  yet 
it  is  in  such  schools  that  the  catholicity  in  religion  which  gives 
birth  to  Federations  of  Churches  is  most  potent,  and  many  of 
these,  if  not  all,  would  welcome  interdenominational  or  union 
training  departments  for  ministers  and  other  Christian  workers, 
just  as  they  welcome  non-denominational  Christian  associations 
of  their  students.  In  many  cases  they  would  share  their  buildings, 
libraries  and  other  facilities  with  the  federated  departments,  and 
their  literary  students  would  afford  bands  of  choice  young  people 
from  which  the  ministry  might  receive  most  valuable  accessions. 

An  Illustration. — That  this  suggestion  is  not  merely  visionary 
and  that  the  essential  unity  exists  which  is  the  prime  condition 
of  the  realization  of  the  plan,  as  it  is  the  condition  of  any  fed- 
erated agency,  the  institution  best  known  to  the  speaker  is  cited, 
at  the  risk  of  seeming  shop  talk.  Its  theological  department, 
maintained  primarily  by  and  for  a  particular  people,  is  training 
pastors  of  other  denominations  which  do  not  provide  ministerial 
training  at  points  geographically  or  financially  accessible  to  them. 
They  usually  serve  near-by  churches  of  their  own  name  and  order, 
and  to  all  appearances  find  the  environment  as  congenial  to  them- 
selves as  to  those  who  serve  the  denomination  for  which  the  de- 
partment was  founded.  Among  the  students  are  those  who  have 
been  from  childhood  and  still  are  loyal  Methodists,  Episcopalians, 
Presbyterians,  Baptists,  Unitarians,  Dutch  Eeformed  and  others. 

General  Application. — ^What  is  true  of  the  one  cited  is  doubtless 
true  of  others,  and  the  experience  which  in  this  case  springs  from 
local  necessity  would  be  many  times  multiplied  under  an  avowed 
poKcy  of  federated  or  union  ministerial  schools  or  departments 
innocent  of  the  current  insistence  upon  all  ministers  studying  in 
denominational  seminaries.  This  impressive  cooperating  assem- 
bly gives  eloquent  assurance  that,  for  example,  one  may  be  a  Bap- 


RURAL    FEDERATION  397 

tist  in  good  standing  while  giving  sympathy  and  material  aid  to 
the  federated  training  of  Christian  workers  in  a  college  which  may 
in  other  aspects  be  under  Presbyterian  control. 

Highest  Education  of  Rural  Ministers  not  Practical. — The 
thought  will  not  appeal  strongly  to  bodies  which  require  a  finished 
liberal  and  professional  education  as  a  condition  of  ordination  or 
consecration,  but  for  men  so  educated  the  distinctly  rural  and 
village  churches  ofi'er  no  support  and  little  demand,  as  is  evi- 
denced by  the  small  part  taken  in  the  work  of  these  churches  by 
the  denominations  which  require  such  training.  But  those  same 
churches  are  the  only  spiritual  servants  of  the  classes  of  people 
upon  which  the  structure  of  our  American  society  rests  in  the  last 
analysis. 

Rural  to  Urban  Federation. — Discreetly  distribute  training 
schools  among  country  churches,  under  a  federated  spirit,  for  those 
unhonored  struggling  preachers,  the  spiritual  fathers  of  so  many 
boys  who  in  manhood  sit  and  speak  in  this  distinguished  company 
as  representatives  of  their  denominations;  distribute  them  in  an 
atmosphere  of  practical  Christian  unity;  offer  much  of  the  great 
and  universally  accepted  truths,  and  little  or  none  of  formal 
and  polemic  theology  which  has  ever  been  the  prolific  mother  of 
schisms  in  the  blessed  body  of  the  Christ ;  federate  the  ministers  at 
the  base  of  our  society,  and  that  essential  unity  whence  has  sprung 
a  federation  yet  clouded  by  ecclesiasticism  and  institutionalism  will 
mightily  contribute  to  a  working  and  effective  cooperation. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  Robert  F.  Coyle,  D.D. 


Those  of  you  who  used  to  play  football  or  baseball  in  your 
college  days  will  remember  that  it  was  not  the  brilliant  playing 
of  this  or  that  individual  that  won  the  game,  but  the  splendid 
team  work,  every  man  doing  his  utmost  for  the  success  of  the 
whole  combination,  all  together  seeking  a  common  victory.  We 
have  had  a  good  deal  of  brilliant  playing  in  the  Church.  We  have 
it  yet.  There  are  star  performers  in  the  field,  and  here  and  there 
a  star  denomination.     Their  chief  desire  seems  to  be  that  their 


398  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

particular  Church  shall  win  out.  What  they  should  labor  for  and 
be  ambitious  for  above  everything  else,  what  all  of  us  should  play 
for  and  pray  for,  is  to  win  the  game  for  Jesus  Christ.  A  Chris- 
tianized America,  a  Christianized  Europe,  a  Christianized  world — 
be  this  our  supreme  purpose  and  all  subordinate  things  will  fall 
into  the  background ;  and  I  am  glad  to  ])elieve  that  this  purpose  is 
growing.  This  Conference  is  an  indication  of  it.  It  is  a  sign  full 
of  hope.  We  are  talking  now  of  essential  unity,  of  fundamental 
agreements,  and  magnifying  these  rather  than  our  petty  and  unim- 
portant differences. 

But  what  is  essential  unity?  Certainly  not  a  matter  of  exter- 
nals, or  forms,  or  polities.  The  essential  unity  in  a  forest  is  the 
one  life  everywhere  manifest  in  a  thousand  varieties.  Build  a 
hundred  houses  along  the  same  street  exactly  alike  in  size  and  style 
and  material,  and  it  would  be  no  proof  that  the  families  living  in 
them  were  united  in  spirit  and  sympathy  and  love.  The  devil 
himself  might  hold  carnival  beneath  every  roof.  On  the  other 
hand,  no  two  of  them  might  be  alike :  some  might  be  of  wood,  some 
of  stone,  some  of  brick,  some  stately  and  some  common;  and  yet 
their  tenants  might  be  bound  together  by  the  warmest  ties  of  affec- 
tion. Monotony  is  not  unity.  To  engage  in  the  same  work  in  the 
same  way ;  to  take  it  up  and  lay  it  down  at  the  same  hour ;  to  do  it 
with  the  same  sort  of  tools  and  after  the  same  plans,  is  not  unity. 

We  are  not  to  imagine  that  if  all  our  Churches  were  adminis- 
tered in  the  same  way,  and  all  our  polities  were  alike,  and  all  our 
forms  of  worship  identical,  we  would  be  one.  Underneath  all 
these  externals  there  might  be  endless  hatreds  and  rivalries.  Never 
was  the  Church  so  corrupt,  so  essentially  divided,  as  in  the  days 
before  denominations  came  into  existence.  If  we  were  all  to  come 
under  Presbytery  to-morrow,  or  under  Episcopacy,  or  under  Inde- 
pendency, it  would  make  more  mightily  for  disunion  than  anything 
else  we  can  well  imagine.  Essential  unity  has  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  things  on  the  outside. 

Nor  with  theological  agreements.  The  internals  of  doctrine 
have  about  as  little  to  do  with  it  as  the  externals  of  polity  and  ritual. 
Men  are  so  made  that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  see  alike,  or  to 
think  alike,  or  to  view  things  in  the  same  atmosphere  and  the  same 
perspective.  There  are  no  schismatics  to  be  compared  with  those 
who  presume  to  set  up  a  fixed  standard  of  belief  by  which  men  are 
to  be  bound  once  for  all.  They  are  the  chief  heretic-makers  of 
the  world.     No  others  have  ever  done  so  much  to  promote  division. 


ESSENTIAL   UNITY  OF  THE   CHURCHES  399 

Everybody  knows  that  some  of  the  most  unfortunate  splits  and 
factions  in  the  Church  have  been  amongst  those  who  subscribed  to 
substantially  the  same  doctrines.  The  seventeen  different  Meth- 
odist and  the  eleven  different  Presbyterian  denominations  in  this 
country  are  proof  enough  that  essential  unity  must  be  something 
quite  apart  from  similarity  of  creeds.  Nothing  is  more  in  evidence 
than  the  fact  that  it  is  possible  to  recite  formularies  that  have  no 
relation  to  the  innermost  core  of  life. 

Because  men  subscribe  to  the  same  dogmatic  statements,  it  does 
not  follow  that  their  hearts  will  be  in  sympathy  and  their  hands 
united  in  giving  their  beliefs  practical  and  beneficent  incarnation. 
The  Calvinism  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  is  not  different  from  the 
Calvinism  of  the  Westminster  Confession,  but  the  union  between 
the  Episcopal  and  Presbyterian  Churches  has  not  always  been 
heavenly  and  beautiful  to  contemplate.  If  history  teaches  any- 
thing, it  teaches  that  a  Church  with  only  one  creed  and  one  polity 
and  one  ritual  may  breathe  putrescence,  while  the  Church  with  a 
score  of  different  confessional  standards  and  ecclesiastical  pro- 
cedures may  breathe  life. 

If  essential  unity,  then,  has  no  necessary  relation  to  the  exter- 
nals of  form  or  the  internals  of  belief,  in  what  does  it  consist  ?  It 
is,  first  of  all,  a  matter  of  spirit.  To  illustrate :  All  good  citizens 
are  patriotic.  There  is  essential  unity  among  them  as  to  their  coun- 
try. They  love  it.  and  if  need  be  are  ready  to  die  for  it.  They  are 
all  stirred  and  thrilled  by  the  same  flag,  all  moved  and  aroused  by 
the  same  national  songs;  but  they  differ  widely,  sometimes  almost 
diametrically,  on  questions  of  national  policy.  Their  unity  is  in 
their  affections  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  accidents  of  parties 
or  the  transient  phases  of  public  life.  All  good  men  are  philan- 
thropic, but  lovers  of  their  kind  adopt  different  plans  and  do  their 
work  according  to  different  methods.  Disagree  as  they  may  and 
•do,  however,  about  programmes  and  schemes  and  organizations, 
^they  all  see  the  man  and  are  concerned  about  his  needs.  With  them 
also  it  is  a  unity  of  love. 

This  unity  of  spirit  which  alone  can  bring  us  together  is  bound 
to  show  itself  in  unity  of  purpose.  Phrase  it  as  we  may,  if  our 
spirit  is  right,  if  it  is  Christ's  spirit,  our  purpose  will  be  a  common 
purpose.  And  no  one  will  deny  that  this  purpose  exists,  the  pur- 
pose to  disseminate  the  principles  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  push  the 
frontiers  of  the  Eedeemer's  Kingdom  out  to  the  farthest  rim  of  the 
■world.     If   it   gripped   us   more   mightily,   if   it   commanded   ns 


400  CHURCH   FEDERATION 

supremely,  all  differences  would  be  consumed  in  the  fire  of  our 
united  zeal  to  win  the  game.  Daniel  Webster  said  one  time,  in  his 
speech  upon  the  Louisville  Canal  Bill,  "I  look  to  the  magnitude  of 
the  object  and  not  to  its  locality.  I  ask  not  whether  it  be  East  or 
West  of  the  mountains.  There  are  no  Alleghenies  in  my  politics.'* 
That  was  statesmanship.  That  was  patriotism.  What  a  day  it 
will  be  for  the  Churches  when  their  leaders,  looking  only  to  the 
magnitude  of  the  work  to  be  accomplished,  shall  say,  "There  are 
no  sectarianisms,  no  sectionalisms,  no  provincialisms  in  my  relig- 
ion." I  am  glad  they  are  saying  it,  saying  it  in  constantly  increas- 
ing numbers,  and  with  more  and  more  pronounced  accent.  All 
that  is  needed  to  take  away  the  reproach  of  a  divided  Christendom 
is  that  the  purpose  that  now  gives  us  a  certain  measure  of  unity 
shall  become  magisterial  and  impelling. 

Unity  of  spirit,  flowering  into  unity  of  purpose,  must  lead  to 
a  right  putting  of  emphasis.  Nothing  has  ever  done  so  much  to 
weaken  us  and  keep  us  apart  as  laying  the  stress  in  the  wrong 
place.  Our  divisions  have  come  from  making  second  and  third 
things  first.  Too  often  we  have  failed  to  get  to  the  heart  of  things 
and  have  tried  to  make  the  small  great,  the  creed  more  than  the 
faith,  the  Church  more  than  the  Christ,  the  temporary,  the  chang- 
ing, the  accidental  more  than  the  eternal.  This  mischief  of  mis- 
placed emphasis  began  very  early;  it  split  the  Corinthian  Church, 
and  Paul,  who  always  stood  upon  fundamental  lines,  said  in  sub- 
stance, "Let  the  Crucified  be  your  rallying  centre,  gather  about 
Him,  and  give  Him  the  undivided  homage  of  your  hearts."  That 
is  the  unifying  note. 

Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem 
And  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 

Dean  Stanley  saw  to  the  very  heart  of  the  matter  when  speaking 
of  the  Lord's  table.  He  said  with  that  breadth  and  charity  charac- 
teristic of  him : 

When  diverging  creeds  shall  learn 

Toward  their  central  source  to  turn, 

When  contending  churches  tire 

Of  the  earthquake,  wind,  and  fire, 

Here   (at  the  Holy  Supper)   let  strife  and  clamor  cease 

At  that  still  small  voice  of  peace, 

"May  they  all  united  be 

In  the  Father  and  in  Me." 


ESSENTIAL   VNITY  OF  THE  CHURCHES  401 

May  God  send  us  more  Dean  Stanleys  to  ring  that  sentiment  in 
the  ears  of  the  followers  of  Jesua. 

Meanwhile  for  the  essential  unity  manifest  we  are  filled  with 
thanksgiving.  Far  away  in  Pagan  lands  our  missionaries  are 
uniting  on  fundamentals,  and  the  fire  of  their  united  zeal  is  burn- 
ing in  from  the  circumference  to  the  centre.  In  our  own  land  and 
in  the  great  mother  land  beyond  the  sea  denominational  rallying 
cries  no  longer  rally,  sectarian  watchwords  no  longer  send  a  thrill 
along  the  lines.  What  we  are  listening  for  now  to  stir  us  and  move 
us  to  battle  is  not  our  particular  regimental  call,  but  the  call  of 
the  King  of  the  Army.  Cooperative  evangelistic  movements  are 
multiplying.  Arminians,  Calvinists  and  Lutherans  are  working 
together,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  to  save  men.  Christ  is  being  lifted 
up  and  lesser  lights  are  paling.  We  are  brushing  the  rubbish  from 
the  Eock — pleading  with  men  to  plant  their  feet  there.  That 
Eock  is  Christ,  and  in  Him  we  are  finding  our  meeting  place  of 
love,  of  fellowship,  and  the  inspiration  of  all  our  campaigning. 

See  what  this  unity  promises  for  the  future.  It  will  grow 
stronger.  The  wheels  of  God  never  turn  backward.  This  river 
will  rise  and  overflow,  and  all  our  ships  of  every  keel  will  go 
voyaging  upon  it  for  the  Kingdom.  We  know  what  Jesus  prayed 
for — that  they  all  might  be  one — and  it  is  inconceivable  that  His 
prayer  should  go  unanswered.  Even  now  He  is  causing  us  to  see 
the  folly,  the  weakness,  and  the  sin  of  division.  Even  now  He  is 
forcing  upon  us  the  conviction  that  it  is  poor  economy  and  worse 
religion  for  Christian  organizations,  with  professedly  common  aims 
and  common  fundamental  beliefs  and  a  common  Lord  and  a  com- 
mon hope,  to  stand  apart  upon  trifles.  He  is  driving  us  to  the 
conclusion  that  small  disagreements  and  non-essentials  should  be 
entombed  and  forgotten  in  the  larger  interests  of  the  Church 
universal.  He  is  bidding  us  look  for  the  swiftly  coming  day  when 
in  Christian  charity,  in  Christian  zeal,  in  affectionate  brotherly 
cooperation,  as  lovers  of  Him,  we  shall  unite  about  the  Cross  fc-r 
the  conquest  of  the  world. 

What  that  will  mean  for  society  and  for  the  whole  race  of  man 
it  does  not  require  a  prophet's  eye  to  see.  Given  a  united  Church, 
representing,  as  this  Conference  does,  twenty  millions  of  Christian 
people,  taking  a  stand  for  righteousness,  and  the  politicians  will 
listen,  law  makers  will  hear  and  heed.  Given  a  united  Church,  one 
in  heart,  one  in  purpose,  one  in  attitude  toward  evil,  toward  ras- 
cality and  vTTong  of  every  sort,  and  its  protests  and  petitions  will  be 


402  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

treated  with  respect.  No  class  of  men,  no  liquor  power,  no  iniquity 
of  any  kind,  will  dare  to  ignore  them.  Given  a  united  Church, 
animated  by  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  burning  with  His  fire,  hot  with 
His  compassion,  determined  to  insist  upon  a  square  deal  for  both 
capital  and  labor,  rising  above  all  favoritism  into  the  clear  shining 
of  God's  light,  and  the  alienated  masses  will  come  back  and  crowd 
our  sanctuaries  to  the  doors. 

When  the  Churches  act  in  unison,  when  they  present  an 
unbroken  front  to  every  social  wrong,  it  will  be  the  most  tremen- 
dous and  the  most  beneficent  combination  the  world  has  ever  seen — 
a  combination  before  which  the  gates  of  hell  must  go  down.  Think 
of  what  this  essential  unity,  now  in  the  bud,  will  mean  for  heathen 
lands  when  it  comes  to  the  blossom  and  the  flower !  The  work  of 
missions,  no  longer  retarded  by  narrow  and  confusing  sectarian 
policies,  will  go  forward  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Administrations 
will  be  simplified  and  consolidated,  useless  duplications  of  machin- 
ery and  effort  on  the  same  field  will  cease,  money  and  men  too  long 
wasted  in  rivalry  and  wicked  competition  will  be  saved  and  sent 
where  they  can  do  the  most  effective  work.  The  kingdom  and  the 
King  will  be  the  watchwords  in  that  day.  There  will  be  a  holy 
comradeship  of  service.  Black  superstitions  will  flee  before  the 
advancing  hosts  of  light.  Toward  this  goal  we  are  moving. 
Toward  this  port  our  scattered  fleets  are  converging.  This  is  our 
grand  ideal.     It  is 

Not  of  the  sunlight. 
Not  of  the  starlight, 
Not  of  the  moonlight, 

but  of  God,  and  if  this  Conference  shall  stir  the  Churches  to  move 
forward  toward  the  realization  of  this  ideal  it  will  never  be  for- 
gotten; it  will  pass  into  history  as  the  most  significant  and  the 
most  beneficent  meeting  of  Christian  men  since  the  Day  of 
Pentecost. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  R.  P.  Johnston,  D.D. 


Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  Conference: 

The  most  fitting  introduction  to  my  remarks  is  perhaps  a  dis- 
claimer and  an  explanation.  No  man  may  presume  to  speak 
authoritatively  for  the  body  of  believers  of  which  I  have  the  honor 
to  be  an  humble  member.  One  may  only  utter  his  own  sincere  con- 
victions, with  the  hope  that  in  so  doing  he  is  giving  expression,  how- 
ever inadequate,  to  the  thoughts  of  many  of  his  brethren. 

In  considering  the  matter  of  Christian  unity  there  confront  us 
at  the  very  threshold  certain  facts  with  which  all  must  agree.  The 
first  is  that  our  Divine  Lord  yearned  and  prayed  for  the  oneness  of 
His  disciples.  The  second  is  that  the  spectacle  of  such  a  unity 
would  vastly  honor  our  Lord,  would  deeply  impress  the  world,  would 
generate  enthusiasm  and  confidence  in  the  Church,  would  tend  to 
a  wiser  concentration  and  direction  of  effort,  and  would  render 
certain  the  rapid  progress  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  third  fact 
is  that  in  a  true  sense  such  a  unity  is  daily  becoming,  not  only  a 
devout  hope,  but  an  increasingly  glorious  reality.  Otherwise  such 
meetings  as  these  would  be  impossible. 

But  back  of  all  this  lies  the  question,  What  is  meant  by  unity  of 
believers?  In  what  does  such  a  unity  consist?  The  phrase  has 
become  commonplace,  almost  trite.  What  is  its  legitimate  and 
reasonable  content?  Wliat  is  the  ideal  in  the  minds  of  those  who 
are  most  earnestly  and  intelligently  praying  and  working  for  this 
consummation  so  devoutly  to  be  wished?  It  is  evident  that  clear 
thinking  and  frank  statement  here  will  prevent  possible  future  dis- 
appointment; while  confusion  of  thought  and  statement  will  pro- 
duce confusion  worse  confounded. 

I  have  said  that  it  is  a  fact  that  the  oneness  of  believers  is  be- 
coming  daily  more  real  and  actual.  But  I  venture  to  suggest  that 
this  gro-wdng  unity  has  in  it  no  thought  of  merging  all  bodies  of 
Christians  into  any  existing  body.  Unity  by  the  process  of  absorp- 
tion or  by  that  of  deglutition  is  utterly  impossible.  No  existing 
denomination  is  likely  to  play  the  whale  to  the  numerous  denomi- 
national Jonahs.  There  has  not  been  a  time,  for  centuries  at  least, 
when  such  a  merger  would  not  have  entailed  a  loss  in  the  richness, 
content  and  variety  of  Christian  faith  and  experience  entirely  out 
of  proportion  to  any  possible  gain.     In  the  next  place,  I  am  com- 


404  CEVBCH   FEDERATION 

pelled  to  say  that  the  growing  unity  does  not  give  indication  of 
a  universal  subscription  to  any  extensive  and  elaborate  creedal 
statement.  There  is,  to  be  sure,  a  unity  of  faith  involved  in  this 
movement,  but  the  creed  that  seeks  to  express  it  must  of  necessity 
be  very  brief,  very  general  and  elastic,  very  elemental,  and  further- 
more must  confine  itself  largely  to  matters  within  the  realm  of 
experience. 

Nor  does  this  increasing  oneness  promise,  for  many  generations 
if  ever,  to  result  in  uniformity  of  ritual,  method  of  government, 
order  of  worship  or  ceremonial  observances.  I  am  persuaded  that 
there  is  substantial  unity  on  the  question  of  what  unity  is  not. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  unity  that  is  every  day  growing  stronger 
and  more  beautiful,  the  oneness  that  constitutes  the  essential  unity 
of  the  Churches,  goes  deeper,  rises  higher  and  bulks  larger  than 
any  possible  merging  of  denominations  into  one  existing  body,  how- 
ever complete  that  merger  might  be.  It  has  in  it  three  great  ele- 
ments. It  is  a  oneness  of  spirit,  a  oneness  of  task,  purpose,  goal, 
and  a  oneness  of  heritage  in  a  vast  body  of  common  faith,  experience 
and  achievement. 

It  is  oneness  of  spirit,  of  ideal.  It  is  an  atmosphere  and  an 
attitude.  It  has  come  like  the  approach  of  spring.  The  world  is 
bathed  in  the  balm  of  its  warmth  and  fragrance.  It  is  impalpable, 
assuaging,  pervasive,  dynamic.  It  is  the  breath  of  a  truer  appre- 
ciation and  a  larger  incarnation  of  the  mind  of  Christ.  It  is 
spiritual,  not  ecclesiastical.  It  is  sympathetic,  not  organic.  It  is 
vital,  not  formal.  The  Christ  is  breathing  upon  His  disciples,  and 
is  saying  as  of  old,  ^Tleceive  the  Holy  Ghost." 

In  the  next  place  it  is  a  oneness  of  purpose,  of  goal.  The  prog- 
ress of  events,  increased  facilities  for  communication,  the  concen- 
tration of  population  in  cities,  social  and  civic  movements,  have 
created  problems  and  imposed  tasks  whose  very  immensity  compel 
cooperation  as  the  only  hope  of  salvation,  as  weU  as  the  only  con- 
dition of  the  Church's  life.  We  must  stand  together  or  die  apart 
and  fail  in  the  highest  task.  These  new  conditions,  together  with 
the  lessons  which  experience  has  taught  us  and  the  growth  of  a 
clearer  realization  of  Christ,  have  pressed  and  drawn  and  compelled 
us  closer  together.  They  have  changed  our  viewpoints,  lengthened 
our  perspectives,  widened  our  horizons  and  clarified  our  vision. 
They  have  constrained  us  to  seek  for  points  of  agreement  rather 
than  of  difl'erence.  They  have  taught  us  that  intellectual  interpre- 
tations may  vary  without  disturbing  the  deeper  unity  of  spirit  and 


ESSENTIAL  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCHES  405 

purpose.  They  have  led  us  to  see  more  clearly  that  the  production 
of  Christ-like  character  is  the  chief  glory  of  the  Church;  that  the 
application  of  Christ's  principles  is  the  supreme  wisdom,  and  that 
the  Christianization  of  the  world  intensively  and  extensively  is  the 
supreme  task.  Furthermore,  we  all  know  that  no  one  body  has  an 
exclusive  patent  on  the  process  of  producing  Christ-like  character, 
has  no  monopoly  of  the  wisdom  of  method,  and  no  special  pre- 
eminence in  the  fruits  of  missionary  enterprise.  These  are  the 
common  guerdons  which  God  has  given  to  every  denomination. 
There  may  be  patents  and  monopolies  in  earthly  instruments  and 
materials,  but  no  one  Church  can  claim  to  be  the  exclusive  channel 
of  divine  grace  and  power.  God  is  as  yet  inadequately  expressed. 
"There's  a  wideness  in  His  mercy  like  the  wideness  of  the  sea ;  and 
the  love  of  God  is  broader  than  the  measure  of  man's  mind." 

The  third  element  of  essential  unity  is  a  oneness  of  heritage 
of  common  faith,  experience  and  achievement.  As  a  result  of  the 
beneficent  Spirit  of  Christ  there  is  a  growing  aflfinity  for  Christ- 
likeness  wherever  it  may  be  found,  and  a  growing  impatience  with 
any  barrier,  ecclesiastical  or  racial,  that  seeks  to  prevent  the  fullest 
and  sweetest  fellowship  with  it.  We  are  recognizing  in  ever  increas- 
ing measure  that  all  Christians  have  a  heritage  of  common  truth 
and  experience;  that  the  things  which  are  common  are  infinitely 
deeper,  higher,  richer  than  the  things  which  are  distinctive.  The 
cloth  of  gold  is  a  common  possession;  the  fringes  may  furnish  ele- 
ments for  distinctive  claims. 

An  analysis  of  the  content  of  the  general  Christian  conscious- 
ness and  faith  of  to-day  would,  I  think,  disclose  the  fact  that  every 
denomination  has  contributed  some  valuable  element  to  it.  The 
common  body  of  truth  and  faith  is  as  a  sea  into  which  flow  various 
streams.  But  the  streams  themselves  have  been  formed  by  the  sea. 
No  denomination  could  exist  but  for  the  truth  it  holds  in  common. 
Our  Churches  have  not  prospered  because  they  differ;  they  have 
prospered  because  they  have  so  much  that  is  common.  Time  fails 
me  for  an  exhaustive  analysis  of  this  deep  sea  of  common  faith  and 
experience.     Permit  me  to  mention  only  a  few  of  the  elements. 

First  of  all  there  is  a  common  but  recognizedly  imperfect  con- 
ception of  the  infinite  and  eternal  God  and  Father,  the  source  of 
all  truth,  the  fountain  of  all  light,  the  author  of  all  life,  the  giver 
of  all  good,  the  God  of  depthless  love,  by  Whom  are  all  things,  for 
Whom  are  all  things,  and  in  Whom  all  things  hold  together.  There 
is  a  conmion  recognition  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God,  the 


406  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

supreme  expression  of  the  Father's  character,  life  and  love,  in 
Wliom  we  all  walk  as  the  living  way,  the  fadeless  light  and  the 
ultimate  truth  that  brings  us  to  God.  We  all  recognize  the  Holy 
Spirit  as  God's  imminent  presence  in  the  world  and  His  eternal 
witness  in  the  soul  of  man.  We  receive  the  Scripture  as  the 
supreme  literary  record  of  God's  self -manifestation,  and  as  the 
supreme  record  of  man's  growing  spiritual  apprehension  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  There  is  the  common  faith  in  a  com- 
mon Lord,  a  common  joy  of  forgiveness,  and  a  common  hope  of 
salvation.  There  is  a  common  purpose  and  a  common  task,  the 
bringing  in  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  There  is- a  common  joy  in 
service,  a  common  fellowship  in  experience,  a  common  faith  in  a 
Church  spiritual  and  universal.  These  and  many  other  things  are 
our  common  heritage  and  possession.  And  as  we  realize  how  much 
we  have  in  common  it  becomes  increasingly  difficult  for  us  to  walk 
apart. 

There  is  another  truth  to  which  we  must  give  larger  place  in 
our  thoughts  of  unity.  That  is  that  life  tends  to  variety  of  expres- 
sion, and  the  higher  the  life  the  richer  the  diversity.  And  we  must 
recognize  that  variety  is  not  inconsistent  with  unity.  The  highest 
Christian  would  be  a  composite  of  all  the  excellencies  of  all  the 
various  types.  Each  life  has  a  genius  of  its  own.  It  must  express 
itself  in  terms  of  that  genius.  That  life  is  truest  to  God  which  is 
truest  to  itself  in  its  self-expression.  Poverty  and  sterility  lie  in 
uniformity;  richness  and  fulness  lie  in  variety.  We  have  learned 
that  lesson  in  the  realm  of  physical  nature.  It  is  a  pity  we  are  so 
slow  in  learning  it  in  spiritual  realms.  No  rose  garden  is  con- 
demned because  it  has  various  colored  and  kinds  of  roses.  No 
orchard  is  despised  because  it  produces  a  diversity  of  fruits.  The 
bed  of  pansies  is  not  cast  out  because  they  break  out  into  multifold 
hues.  Hear  the  parable  of  the  rose,  the  orchard,  the  pansy.  Re- 
ligion is  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man.  We  must  not  forget 
that  it  is  life,  that  the  truth  of  God  is  vital.  It  may  also  be  trusted, 
and  we  shall  realize  its  unity  only  when  we  realize  the  richness  of 
the  variety  of  its  self-expression.  Men  differ  fundamentally,  in- 
herently. Truth  is  not  mediated  to  all  through  the  same  faculty. 
Some  are  logical,  some  poetical,  some  mystical,  some  emotional, 
some  practical,  some  passive,  some  active.  Let  us  not  fight  against 
God  and  truth.  Every  man  will  see  Christ  through  the  medium  of 
his  o^wTi  individuality.  It  would  be  a  sin  against  God  and  man, 
it  would  produce  poveriy  and  barrenness,  to  compel  all  men  into  a 


ESSENTIAL    UNITY  OF  THE   CHURCHES  407 

conventional  religious  type.  Our  conceptions  of  unity  must  be  en- 
larged to  admit  of  the  widest  freedom  in  order  to  admit  the  richest 
variety  and  fulness.  It  must  compass  an  Oriental  and  an  Occi- 
dental Christianity  with  infinite  divergences  of  expression  shading 
off  from  the  one  into  the  other. 

So  much  for  the  unity  that  is  not  and  that  is.  ^Vhat  of  that 
which  is  to  be? 

Our  little  systems  have  their  day ;  ; 

They  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be; 

They  are  but  broken  lights  of  Thee, 
And  Thou,  O  Lord,  are  more  than  they. 

Are  there  not  indications  of  a  yearning  for  unity,  for  fellowship, 
for  brotherhood,  that  is  more  concrete  than  that  of  the  spirit  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  that  is  more  homogeneous  and  coordinated 
than  even  this  Inter-Church  Federation,  that  is  seeking  for  a  larger 
organic  actualization  of  the  Church  of  Christ? 

Life  precedes  and  produces  its  own  organism.  Are  there  not 
indications  of  a  deep,  masterful,  divine  life  struggling  to  express 
itself  in  a  larger  interpretation  of  Christ's  idea  of  the  Church? 
Are  not  kindred  souls  feeling  its  impulse  and  praying  for  its  reali- 
zation? And  when  it  does  take  form — as  take  form  I  believe  it 
will — it  will  express  a  unity  of  l)clievers  for  which  as  yet  we  have  no 
adequate  symbols.  I  venture  to  think  it  will  be  an  integration 
along  broader  lines,  a  unity  reached  through  wider  and  larger 
generalizations.  It  will  be  a  oneness  expressed  in  elemental,  vital 
terms.  It  will  be  based  upon  oneness  of  f-pirit,  purpose  and  goal. 
It  will  be  inclusive,  not  exclusive,  in  its  principle  and  content.  It 
will  afford  ample  room  for  honest  freedom  of  thought  and  for  the 
richest  variety  of  expression.  It  will  glow  with  a  holy  passion  for 
truth  in  its  fulness,  and  will  admit  it  from  whatever  source  it  may 
come.  It  will  be  characterized  by  the  reverence,  devoutness,  fear- 
lessness and  faith  of  Jesus.  It  will  need  no  law  but  love,  no 
authority  but  that  of  truth,  no  leader  but  Christ,  no  bonds  but  a 
common  spirit,  a  common  purpose  and  a  common  goal.  May  the 
day  speedily  come  when  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  shall  bow 
and  every  tongue  shall  confess  that  He  is  Lord  to  the  glory  of  God 
the  Father.  Then  shall  we  all  be  one  in  Christ  and  He  in  God. 
And  then 

Out  of  the  darkness  of  night 
The  world  will  swing  into  light, 
And  it  will  be  daybreak  everywhere. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  F.  T.  Tagg,  D.D. 


There  are  recognized  principles  of  unity,  which  are  so  indis- 
putable that  they  have  crystallized  into  familiar  aphorisms  and 
hare  taken  their  place  in  our  permanent  literature.  Coalitions 
and  combinations  are  considered  so  essential  in  working  out  great 
problems  of  life  that  armies,  corporations  and  parties  have  com- 
bined because  there  is  "strength  in  union." 

Divisions,  even  when  they  are  not  hostile,  produce  a  scatter- 
ing of  talent,  a  waste  of  money  in  the  duplication  of  machinery 
and  a  paucity  of  results  that  would  not  be  if  a  healthy  combination 
of  their  working  forces  could  be  effected.  When  a  state  is  united 
its  people  are  happy  and  generally  prosperous.  When  discord 
exists  conflict,  if  not  rebellion  and  revolution,  will  be  sure  to 
follow.  The  Master  himself  warned  us  that  "a  house  divided 
against  itself  will  fall."  When  He  was  among  men  His  disciples 
could  not  better  draw  near  each  other  than  by  placing  Him  in  the 
centre  and  forming  a  loving  circle  around  Him.  Our  shortest 
cut  toward  each  other  is  to  get  near  to  Him. 

He  laid  the  foundation  for  an  organized  and  unified  Church 
and  sent  out  His  disciples  to  establish  it.  He  never  once  hinted 
at  division.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  anything  in  what  He 
said  or  did  to  justify,  much  less  to  authorize,  the  numberless  sects 
into  which  the  Church  is  now  divided.  The  unities  of  the  Church 
are  the  divine  elements  which  pervade  and  permeate  it.  The  di- 
visions are  the  differences  which  human  infirmities,  misconcep- 
tions and  selfish  ambitions  have  created.  On  essential  matters  the 
Cliurch  is  now  pretty  solidly  united.  Every  orthodox  denomina- 
tion holds  sufficient  essential  truth  for  the  salvation  of  men — and  it 
holds  this  in  common  with  all  the  rest.  It  is  this  truth,  and  not 
the  principles  wliich  differentiate  it  from  others,  upon  which  its 
stability  and  success  depend.  They  all  agree  on  the  essential 
doctrines,  which  form  the  great  bulwark  against  the  tides  of  sin 
and  corruption  which  menace  humanity  and  threaten  to  over- 
whelm, it.  They  all  seek  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
world.  They  all  agree  upon  the  great  work  of  Christian  evan- 
gelization and  the  recovery  of  man  from  sin. 

Where  division  begins  divergence  from  the  supreme  principle 
.of  Christ's  Kingdom  has  its  origin.     Divisions  may  be  based  on 

408 


ESSENTIAL   UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCHES  409 

interpretations  of  doctrine  or  polity  which  may  afterward  become 
important  to  the  system  they  produce,  but  they  are  not  funda- 
mental. Denominations  themselves  are  but  interpretations,  and 
they  are  wise  and  useful  just  to  the  extent  that  by  creed  or  con- 
duct they  interpret  the  spirit  of  the  Master.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  find  an  absolutely  indispensable  principle  at  the  point  where 
any  two  orthodox  denominations  vary.  They  all  believe  in  God 
— in  the  redemptive  mission  of  Christ,  in  the  office  and  ministry 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  authenticity  and  authority  of  the  Bible, 
the  nature  and  power  of  sin,  the  need  of  salvation,  the  beauty 
and  virtue  of  holiness.  They  all  unite  on  the  Beatitudes,  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Prodigal  Son  and  the 
13th  Chapter  of  First  Corinthians.  Indeed,  to  see  clearly  and 
fully  the  uniting  principles  held  in  common  by  the  various  sects 
is  to  invite  supreme  astonishment  at  the  unimportance  and  the 
insignificance  of  the  points  of  difference. 

It  seems  to  me  the  first  essential  to  unity  is  to  recognize  the 
real  relation  of  Christ  to  His  Church.  A  true  conception  of  His 
rightful  place  as  the  great  spiritual  magnet  draws  men  to  Him. 
If  He  is  lifted  up  so  that  men  can  see  Him  in  the  fulness  of  His 
love  and  grace  that  will  minify,  if  it  does  not  cause  them  to  forget, 
the  method  by  which  they  caught  the  divinely  inspiring  vision. 
When  we  are  privileged  to  witness  a  gorgeous  sunset  our  interest 
does  not  centre  in  the  hilltops  from  which  we  see  it,  but  in  the 
unspeakable  beauty  of  the  picture  which  the  King  of  Day  painted 
in  the  evening  sky. 

Christ  did  not  call  men  to  any  particular  assortment  of  the- 
ological doctrines  or  denominational  formulas.  He  called  them 
to  Himself.  "Come  unto  me,''  He  said.  "I  am  the  way,  I  am 
the  truth,  I  am  the  light."  He  called  them  to  life — and  that 
life  was  in  Himself.  Life  cannot  be  systematized,  nor  located  in 
organizations.  In  His  theology  there  was  a  perpetual  and  im- 
pressive reference  to  Himself  as  the  Eedeemer.  "I  came,"  He  said, 
"that  men  might  have  life,  and  have  it  abundantly."  Just  to  the 
extent  that  we  make  methods  of  coming  to  Him  prominent  we 
obscure  Him. 

When  He  came  the  long  chapters  of  prophecy  closed,  like  a 
gate  through  which  a  triumphant  warrior  king  has  passed.  In 
Him  the  hopes  of  all  preceding  ages  were  realized,  the  prayers  of 
the  centuries  were  answered.  Looking  forward  through  the  evo- 
lutions of  time  and  tracing  the  course  of  the  Gospel  through  the 


410  CHURCH    FEDERATIOTi 

oncoming  ages,  He  commanded  that  in  His  Name  the  Gospel 
should  be  preached  to  the  nations  of  the  world.  The  personal 
strain  is  heard  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  and  it  is  the  only 
strain  that  is  suflBcient  for  the  capture  and  the  salvation  of  the 
world. 

If  the  Church  is  ever  to  be  effectively  united  in  working 
power,  it  must  recognize,  as  it  does  not  now,  the  attractive  per- 
sonality of  Jesus,  and  its  dynamic  power  in  holding  men  to  Him- 
self. Denominational  methods  need  not  be  discarded,  but  their 
mission  is  largely  accomplished  when  the  man  is  "in  Christ  and 
Christ  in  him.'' 

The  very  idea  of  the  Church  is  to  establish  a  particular  rela- 
tion between  man  and  man,  based  on  a  common  relation  of  all  to 
Jesus  Christ.  As  these  relations  are  clearly  recognized  human 
differences  grow  less  important  and  finally  disappear.  Men  may 
differ  in  opinion,  as  they  do  now,  but  nothing  can  break,  or  even 
modify,  this  Supreme  Sacrament  of  love  and  loyalty  to  the  Master ; 
and  that  love  recognizes  and  comprehends  in  its  all  embracing 
nature  the  brotherhood  of  man.  If  now  this  great  Convention  can 
succeed  in  persuading  the  different  branches  of  the  Church  to 
focus  their  effort  upon  the  work  of  pointing  men  to  Christ,  remem- 
bering that  He  has  called  us  to  be  peacemakers  rather  than  creed- 
makers — and  that  everywhere  and  always  our  mission  is  to  lift 
Him  up  as  the  sinner's  only  hope — we  may  hope  that  the  day  is 
not  far  distant  when  they  will  unite  in  defensive  and  aggressive 
action  for  the  world's  salvation. 

This  calls  for  a  modification  of  the  emphasis  now  placed  upon 
the  divisive  factors  in  denominationalism.  We  have  had  a  long 
period  of  fostering  sects  and  making  creeds.  Men  have  thrashed 
the  old  straw  over  many  times,  and  they  have  endlessly  multiplied 
the  machinery  for  doing  it,  but  we  must  admit  that,  in  comparison 
with  the  forces  employed,  the  work  of  salvation  is  slow.  We  need 
to  accentuate  immensely  the  unifying  principles  of  love  and  ser- 
vice. Love  makes  us  charitable  to  those  who  differ  from  us — and 
service  makes  us  forget  our  differences.  When  there  is  joy  in 
Heaven  over  a  repenting  sinner  it  is  the  sinner,  and  not  the  altar  at 
which  he  repents,  that  interests  them.  When  we  can  lead  a  sinner 
to  Christ  I  think  we  should  be  too  happy  over  that  to  haggle  about 
the  denominational  method  by  which  it  is  done.  St.  Paul  antici- 
pated the  diverging  tendencies  which  create  sects  and  sometimes 
depreciate  fellowship,  and  thereby  modify  the  influence  and  power 


ESSENTIAL   UNITY  OF   THE   CHURCHES  411 

of  the  religion  they  mean  to  propagate,  when  he  wrote  beseech- 
ingly to  the  Corinthians  "In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
that  ye  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that  there  be  no  division 
among  you,  but  that  ye  be  perfected  together  in  the  same  mind 
and  in  the  same  judgment,  for  by  one  Spirit  are  we  all  baptized 
into  one  body." 

Denominations  are  not  necessarily  evil.  When  they  engender 
jealousy,  prejudice,  proselyting  and  contention  they  are,  for  in 
that  case  Christ  is  wounded  in  the  house  of  his  friends.  When 
they  are  organized  as  methods  for  better  service  and  work  together 
in  a  fraternal  spirit  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  men 
as  opportunity  offers  they  may  be  very  useful.  But  when  they 
claim  more  for  themselves  than  they  concede  to  others  they  attach 
a  greater  importance  to  the  machine  than  to  the  harvest  it  is  in- 
tended'to  reap. 

It  is  not  expected  that  men  will  surrender  the  distinctive  doc- 
trines of  their  communion,  nor  is  that  necessar}^ — but  if  we  are  all 
Christ's,  and  regard  His  work  as  our  supreme  duty,  we  can  be 
fraternal  in  spirit;  we  can  federate  our  interests  and  our  forces 
against  the  kingdom  of  sin,  and  we  can  cultivate  a  felloAvship  that 
will  eliminate  all  rancor  and  discord — if  it  does  not  make  us 
oblivious  to  the  non-essentials  that  separate  us.  Let  us  learn  to 
rejoice  in  the  harvest  rather  than  in  the  processes  by  which  it  is 
gathered. 

I  once  heard  the  gallant  General  Gordon,  of  Confederate  fame, 
tell  of  an  occasion  when  the  armies  were  encamped  on  either  side 
of  the  narrow,  but  sinuous,  Pamunkey  Eiver,  in  Virginia.  After 
a  time  a  Federal  band — on  a  hilltop  near  the  river — played  "The 
Star  Spangled  Banner."  A  Confederate  band  on  a  hill  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river  accepted  it  as  a  sort  of  challenge,  and  lustily 
played  "Dixie."  The  Federal  band  followed  with  another  na- 
tional air,  only  to  be  again  answered  from  the  other  side  with  a 
lively  Southern  tune.  After  keeping  up  this  musical  fusillade  for 
a  time,  both  bands,  under  a  benign  but  unaccountable  impulse, 
moved  simultaneously  to  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  together,  in 
delightful  and  enchanting  unison,  played  "Home,  Sweet  Home.'' 
These  foes  of  the  battlefield  were  now  on  common  ground, 
thrilled  by  the  same  tender  thoughts,  inspired  by  the  same  sweet 
hopes;  their  brotherhood,  stronger  than  the  fierce  provocations 
which  made  them  hostile,  held  them  under  a  tender  acquiescence 
imtil  the  bugle's  sound  called  them  to  their  tents. 


412  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

If  these  men,  arrayed  in  the  regalia  of  war  and  fiercely  hostile 
on  the  field  of  carnage,  could  forget  their  differences  and  unite  in 
a  song  that  was  common  property,  why  cannot  Christians,  who 
cannot  be  actually  hostile  without  losing  their  place  in  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ,  come  together  under  the  shadow  of  the  Cross,  and 
together  sing  songs  of  love  and  service  which  interpret  the  true 
story  of  salvation  and  the  real  hope  of  the  Church  ? 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  S.  P.  Spreng,  D.D. 


God  has  one  Church,  men  have  many  churches.  But  the  Church 
which  God  buildeth  He  buildeth  of  living  stones,  and  it  abideth ; 
the  churches  that  men  build  are  built  in  part  of  gold  and  silver, 
but  in  part  also  of  wood,  hay  and  stubble,  and  they  must  pass 
away.  But  there  is  something  human  even  in  God's  Church,  and 
there  is  something  divine  even  in  man's  churches.  For  you  can- 
not have  a  Church  with  God  alone,  nor  with  man  alone.  You  must 
have  both.  The  Church  is  where  God  and  man  meet.  Even  there 
do  we  behold  the  tabernacle  of  God  with  men.  And  wheresoever 
God  and  man  touch  each  other  there  is  life.  And  life  develops 
organization  adapted  to  the  exercise  of  its  functions. 

The  moment  true  religion  swung  loose  from  the  control  of  the 
automatic  device  of  the  Papacy,  which  aimed  to  force  a  formal 
unity  upon  the  followers  of  Christ,  it  yielded  to  the  higher  law 
of  life  and  began  to  develop  as  an  organism  rather  than  a  ma- 
chine. For  Protestantism  sprang  from  the  impulse  of  freedom. 
Liberty  of  conscience  and  freedom  of  thought,  long  suppressed,  at 
last  came  into  their  inheritance ;  men  began  to  see  that  uniformity 
is  not  always  unity,  and  that  blind  submission  to  mere  human 
authority  in  matters  of  religious  faith  and  practice  kills  spon- 
taneity, dwarfs  intellect  and  crushes  manhood.  The  segregation 
of  Protestant  Christianity  into  various  organizations,  known  as 
denominations  and  groups  of  denominations,  differentiated  by  di- 
vergent views  upon  certain  points  of  doctrine  and  polity,  was  not 
wholly  evil.  Indeed,  it  was  inevitable.  It  is  true,  it  resulted  in 
great  differences  of  opinion  upon  more  or  less  vital  points  of  doc- 


ESSENTIAL   UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCHES  413 

trine;  in  great  schools  of  thought  which  seemed  divided  by  im- 
passable chasms;  in  earnest  conflicts  between  men  of  deep  convic- 
tions, unquestioned  piety,  utmost  sincerity,  vital  love  of  truth,  and 
often  of  remarkable  intellectual  power  and  the  most  thorough 
scholarship.  But  it  emancipated  religion  from  a  galling  slavery 
and  dispelled  forever  the  dreadful  shadows  of  mediaevalism. 

Protestantism  developed  essentially  along  lines  analogous  to 
those  of  physical  organisms.  A  living  body  of  the  higher  order  of 
beings  is  necessarily  complex  and  coordinates  a  variety  of  func- 
tional activities.  The  primitive  forms  of  life  combined  body  and 
organ  and  functional  activity  all  in  one.  And  they  were  molluscs, 
nothing  more.  The  higher  types  of  life  represent  a  complexity  of 
organs,  parts  and  functions  all  mutually  coordinated  and  essen- 
tially one,  permeated  by  the  full  tide  of  the  one  life  within.  So 
Protestantism,  with  all  its  alleged  external  faults,  represents  the 
higher  type  of  a  triumphant  life.  Perhaps  only  so  could  the  whole 
vast  body  of  truth  as  revealed  in  the  Bible  be  interpreted  and  ex- 
emplified. And  only  so  could  the  Gospel  come  in  its  power  to  all 
classes  of  people,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  cultured  and 
ignorant. 

That  there  was  evil  connected  with  this  form  of  development 
is  not  denied.  Some  of  the  existing  divisions  are  forced,  carnal, 
unnecessary  and  the  result  of  selfish  ambition  or  unholy  rivalries. 
In  so  far  as  this  is  the  case  they  are  inexcusable,  and  sinful,  be- 
cause they  produce  schism  in  the  body  of  Christ  and  awaken  preju- 
dice and  distrust  toward  religion  itself.  But  these  are  the  excep- 
tions, not  the  rule.  But  whatever  the  cause  and  character  of  the 
divergent  movements  and  the  resultant  bodies  and  groups,  the 
lines  of  cleavage  are  in  process  of  elimination.  They  have  lost 
much  of  their  significance.  They  are  not  held  with  the  former 
tenacity,  even  when  there  is  over  them  the  glamour  of  great  names. 
The  essential  unity  of  spirit  and  purpose  which  underlies  them  is 
coming  to  the  surface.  As  a  consequence  the  denominationalism 
of  to-day  is  more  apparent  than  real.  There  could  scarcely  be  a 
more  tangible  or  a  more  impressive  demonstration  of  the  essential 
unity  of  the  Churches  than  this  great  Conference,  the  like  of 
which  has  never  taken  place  before.  The  very  spontaneity  with 
which  this  movement  for  federation  has  developed  and  the  mag- 
nitude of  its  realization  is  proof  of  the  oneness  of  the  body  of 
Christ's  followers. 


414  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

In  so  far  as  the  150  religious  bodies  in  the  United  States  are 
essentially  Christian,  acknowledging  the  headship  of  Jesus  as 
supreme  and  His  Gospel  the  truth  that  saves,  they  are  an  essen- 
tial unit.  The  unity  is  deep,  vital,  abiding,  indissoluble ;  the  sepa- 
ration is  superficial,  formal  and  temporary.  "The  waves  are  many, 
but  the  sea  is  one." 

Below  the  surface  stream,  shallow  and  light — 
Of  what  we  say  we  feel — below  the  stream 
As  light,  of  what  we  thiuJc  we  feel — there  flows 
With  noiseless  current  strong,  obscure  and  deep 
The  central  stream  of  what  we  feel  Indeed. 

Science  teaches  the  unity  of  creation.  Star,  dust  and  butterfly 
are  the  same  stuff.  The  same  ether  enswathes  them  both.  Ele- 
mental unity  persists  through  all  space.  Take  a  spark  from  Orion, 
another  from  Neptune  and  another  from  your  parlor  grate,  and 
they  all  hold  the  same  primeval  fire.  Spectrum  analysis  demon- 
strates that  sun  and  star  and  earth  are  made  of  the  same  elements, 
obey  the  same  laws,  are  compelled  by  the  same  all  enswathing 
forces.  This  law  of  unity  is  becoming  more  and  more  luminous, 
both  as  a  scientific  and  a  moral  truth.  It  runs  through  the  moral 
universe  as  well  as  the  physical.  It  shapes  itself  into  a  splendid 
argument  for  the  unity  and  the  absoluteness  of  God.  For  the 
universe  shows  one  mind. 

But  all  things  were  created  in  Christ  Jesus.  He  is  its  unifying 
center.  For  in  Him  and  through  Him  and  unto  Him  all  things 
were  made,  and  by  Ilim  all  things  consist.  He  holdeth  not  only 
the  seven  stars  of  the  apocalyptic  church,  but  all  the  stars,  celes- 
tial and  terrestrial;  all  the  stars  of  intellect  and  scholarship,  and 
genius  and  leadership.  He  holdeth  all  the  stars  in  His  right  hand. 

He  is  the  head,  the  brains  and  the  sovereign  of  the  universe. 
And  He  is  the  heart  of  the  universe.  He  is  the  head  of  the  human 
race,  its  creator  and  recreator;  His  cross  the  magnetic  center 
which  draws  all  men  unto  Himself.  So,  too,  of  necessity,  He  is  the 
head  of  the  Church.  He  is  the  incarnation  of  love,  which  is  the 
essence  of  God  and  the  law  of  the  universe.  His  love,  going  out 
from  Him  like  waves  of  magnetism,  binds  all  who  receive  it  into 
oneness  \vith  Himself  and  with  each  other.  He  not  only  desires 
and  prays  that  they  may  be  one,  but  He  makes  them  one.  They 
may  never  come  into  exact  intellectual  agreement  upon  all  aspects 


ESSEXTIAL    UNITY  OF   THE   CHURCHES  415 

of  truth,  but  they  will  be  oue  in  their  love  of  Him  as  the  in- 
carnate God,  their  trust  in  Him  as  Saviour,  their  fealty  to  Him 
as  King.  "We  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus."  They  all  drink  of  that 
spiritual  rock  that  followed  them,  and  that  rock  was  Christ. 
(I  Cor.  10:  4.)  They  are  all  baptized  into  the  same  Spirit;  the 
game  Promethean  fire  from  the  heart  of  the  universe  burns  in  the 
hearts  of  all  the  saints. 

This  Conference  has  not  been  called  in  order  to  unite  us,  but 
because  we  are  united;  not  to  force  organic  union,  but  to  make 
manifest  the  essential  unity  already  existing.  Too  long  have  the 
enemies  of  religion  made  capital  out  of  our  divisions.  Too  long 
have  we  ourselves  failed  to  recognize  our  essential  oneness,  and 
laid  emphasis  upon  these  divisions  and  their  causes.  Too  often 
have  we  mistaken  denominational  zeal  for  loyalty  to  Christ.  Too 
often  has  the  creed  of  the  head  eclipsed  that  of  the  heart.  The 
clash  of  polemic  swords  has  too  often  been  beard,  and  we  have 
spent  precious  time  and  energy  in  combatting  each  other's  views, 
instead  of  training  our  guns  upon  a  common  enemy.  If  attempts 
at  union  have  been  made  it  was  generally  with  the  thought  that 
the  union  would  or  should  take  place  under  our  fold.  We  are  will- 
ing that  others  should  make  all  the  concessions,  accept  our  symbol 
of  faith,  speak  our  shibboleth.  It  is  time  these  protestations 
should  cease,  and  we  should  let  the  deeper  unity  of  the  heart  which 
we  all  feel  exists  come  to  the  surface  and  reveal  its  power. 

We  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus.  Under  the  shadow  of  His  cross, 
in  the  glory  of  His  open  tomb,  we  are  all  one.  We  are  one  in  our 
faith  in  the  Deity  and  Lordship  of  Jesus ;  one  in  our  faith  in  the 
necessity  and  adequacy  of  the  atonement  through  His  vicarious 
death;  one  in  our  faith  in  the  divine  origin  and  authority  of  the 
holy  Scriptures  as  our  only  sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice ; 
and  in  the  conviction  that  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
only  hope  and  the  only  salvation  of  this  sinful  old  world;  one  in 
our  love  and  loyalty  to  Him  as  Saviour  and  Lord;  one  in  our 
endeavor  to  realize  in  our  lives  the  mind  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus 
also;  one  in  our  belief  that  modern  Christianity  must  above  all 
things  be  true  to  Christ,  loyal  to  His  person,  loyal  to  His  ethical 
ideals,  and  unitedly  pledged  to  carry  out  his  tremendous  pro- 
gramme to  evangelize  the  world  by  preaching  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature,  till  this  whole  round  world  shall  be  bound  by  chains 
of  gold  about  His  cross. 


416  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

The  Spirit  of  Christ  which  is  in  us  is  bringing  us  together  in 
tlie  fellowship  of  common  efforts  for  common  ends.  We  have 
come  to  see  that  we  can  accomplish  most  when  we  work  together. 
Philanthropic,  reformatory  and  educational  enterprises  and  move- 
ments for  civic  righteousness  and  social  purity  depend  upon  uni- 
versal Christian  cooperation  for  ultimate  success.  No  one 
Church  carries  the  weight  or  can  do  the  work  of  all.  But  nothing 
can  stand  before  the  might  of  united  Protestantism.  The  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath,  the  integrity  of  the  family  by  the  abolition 
of  sinful  divorce,  the  adjustment  of  industrial  differences,  the  en- 
thronement of  civic  virtue,  the  annihilation  of  the  liquor  trafi&c 
and  the  tremendous  obligations  of  philanthropy  and  Christian 
education  all  can  be  accomplished  only  by  united  effort.  These 
are  not  denominational  problems.  They  are  the  problems  of  a 
united,  solidified  Christendom. 

All  this  is  equally,  and  even  more  tremendously,  true  of  the 
missionary  problem.  India,  China,  Africa  care  nothing  for  our 
Churches,  but  they  do  long  for  Christ,  the  Life  of  the  universal 
Church,  the  Light  of  this  dark  world.  If  we  would  bring  this 
world  to  Christ  we  must  altogether  catch  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
transfiguring  purpose  to  make  Jesus  King.  Nowhere  is  the  pres- 
sure, the  demand  for  unity  so  emphatic  and  insistent  as  in  the 
mission  field.  Nowhere  does  denominationalism  count  for  less 
than  there.  The  men  at  the  front  are  leading  in  loyalty  to  Christ 
as  the  supreme  factor  of  Christianity.  This  Conference  on  Federa- 
tion is  partly  called  into  being  by  that  demand,  and  its  realization 
brings  that  great  era  of  which  sages  think  and  poets  sing  and 
prophets  dream,  when  there  shall  be  one  fold  and  Shepherd,  dis- 
tinctly nearer.  The  great  Captain  of  our  salvation  is  massing  his 
troops,  concentrating  his  "far  flung  battle  line."  There  is  mar- 
velous concert  of  action  at  the  front  where  the  falchions  gleam. 
The  crisis  of  the  ages  is  near. 

In  the  great  art  gallery  of  the  St.  Louis  Exposition  my  atten- 
tion was  arrested  by  an  impressive  group  in  bronze.  Two  athletic 
young  giants,  prone  upon  the  ground,  were  locked  in  a  death 
grapple.  One  represented  Life  and  the  other  Death.  The  struggle 
had  been  long  and  severe.  The  artist  carved  in  imperishable 
bronze  the  critical  moment  when  Life,  puissant,  immortal  and 
always  sure  of  triumph,  was  about  to  hurl  his  deadly  antagonist, 
with  one  supreme  effort,  down  into  the  abyss.     That  moment  is 


HON.  JAMES   A.  BEAVER,  LL.D.  KEY.  BIsnOP   A.  W,  WILSON,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


REV.  F.  D.  POWER,  D.D.  REV.  D.  S.  STEPHENS,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


ESSENTIAL   UNITY  OF  THE   CHURCHES  417 

approaching  in  the  history  of  the  conflict  of  the  ages  between 
Christ  and  Satan.  The  Christian  forces  are  united  in  the  supreme 
and  final  struggle.  United  in  effort  as  we  are  in  spirit  victory  is 
sure.    Sin  is  doomed  and  Christ  will  reign. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  Josiah  Strong,  D.D. 


Since  the  beginning  of  the  lowest  form  of  life  on  this  planet 
down  through  countless  ages  there  has  been  a  tendency  toward 
differentiation,  the  development  of  differences  of  race,  of  nation, 
of  language,  of  laws,  of  customs,  of  institutions,  of  ideas,  of 
religions,  of  civilizations.  But  within  the  memory  of  living  men 
this  time-long  stream  of  tendency  has  been  reversed,  and  there 
are  now  myriad  movements  toward  oneness.  The  tendency  is  to 
perceive  the  wider  relations  of  life,  to  recognize  common  interests, 
to  subordinate  differences  and  to  emphasize  resemblances,  to  sink 
the  small  in  the  great,  to  merge  the  many  in  the  one,  to  co- 
ordinate and  to  organize. 

This  centripetal  movement  in  the  religious  world  is  illustrated 
by  our  growing  use  of  the  prefix,  "pan."  We  have  witnessed 
world-wide  gatherings,  pan-Anglican,  pan-Presbyterian,  pan- 
Methodist  and  pan-Congregational,  and  some  of  us  venture  to 
hope  that  the  day  will  come  when  there  will  be  a  "pan'^  large 
enough  to  hold  us  all! 

But  there  is  a  Christian  unity  which  does  not  need  to  be 
achieved  because  it  already  exists.  It  is  older  than  the  divisions 
of  Protestantism:  it  is  as  old  as  the  parable  of  the  Vine  and  its 
branches. 

The  Church  is  one,  not  as  the  seven  branches  of  the  golden 
candlestick  were  one — ^mechanically,  but  as  the  body  and  its  mem- 
bers are  one — vitally. 

The  essential  unity,  the  spiritual  oneness  of  the  universal 
Church  is  always  recognized  by  such  a  body  as  this,  and  it  is  none 
the  less  real  to  us  because  it  is  invisible.  But  ought  not  this 
essential  and  inward  unity  to  find  some  more  effective  and  visible 
expression?    Evidently  the  Master  desired  it,  because  He  prayed 


418  OHUROH  FEDERATION 

for  a  unity  that  would  be  obvious  to  the  world,  and,  seeing  which, 
the  world  might  believe  that  the  Father  had  sent  Him. 

Possibly  we  sometimes  dwell  upon  our  essential  unity  in  order 
to  salve  our  consciences  for  our  sectarian  rivalry,  our  lack  of 
oneness  before  the  world.  Is  it  not  possible  so  to  recognize  our 
oneness  and  so  to  manifest  it  as  in  good  measure  to  remove  sec- 
tarian rivalry  and  the  shame  of  it,  and  correspondingly  increase 
the  practical  efficiency  of  the  Church? 

Character  is  the  sole  condition  or  bond  of  spiritual  oneness, 
consciousness  of  which  we  call  fellowship,  "What  fellowship  hath 
righteousness  with  unrighteousness,  and  what  communion  hath 
light  with  darkness  ?"  If  we  had  an  infallible  and  universally  ap- 
plicable test  of  character  we  might  draw  unerring  lines  of  in- 
clusion and  exclusion,  witliin  wliich  spiritual  unity  would  be 
complete  and  fellowship  would  be  unfailing. 

In  the  absence  of  an  infallible  test,  there  are  three  possible 
tests  of  varying  value,  the  application  of  which  gives  us  three 
concentric  circles  of  fellowship,  having  different  diameters. 

The  smallest  circle  includes  those  who  believe  as  we  be- 
lieve. This  has  been,  and  still  is,  by  far  the  most  common  test. 
This  creedal  basis  of  fellowship  assumes  that  common  character 
may  be  inferred  from  a  common  belief.  And  whUe  it  is  true 
that  Christians  hold  certain  cardinal  beliefs  in  common,  there 
are  multitudes  in  the  world  who  hold  these  same  beliefs  who 
yet  give  no  evidence  of  having  had  any  spiritual  experience,  with 
whom,  therefore,  we  can  have  no  sense  of  spiritual  oneness. 

I  have  heard  of  a  creed  with  five  thousand  articles.  It  would 
be  quite  possible  for  a  man  to  subscribe  to  them  all,  and  yet  be 
dead  spiritually,  as  he  would  certainly  be  dead  intellectually. 

When  men  really  begin  to  think,  they  think  differently.  We 
are  beginning  to  see  that  uniformity  of  belief  is  not  necessary — 
indeed,  is  not  possible,  and  has  not  been  possible  since  the  race 
arrived  at  its  intellectual  majority.  I  go  still  farther,  and  say 
that  uniformity  of  belief  is  not  desirable.  We  must  not  forget 
that  Western  civilization  was  differentiated  from  Eastern  by  the 
development  and  conflict  of  different  ideas.  I  would  not  have 
everybody  believe  as  I  believe.  I  might  be  easily  reconciled  to 
having  a  majority  agree  with  me,  but  T  would  not  have  every  one 
think  as  I  do,  if  I  could,  for  I  should  be  quite  confident  that 
there  would  be  no  more  progress  of  thought  in  the  world  until 
there  had  been  developed  a  difference  of  opinion. 


ESSENTIAL   UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCHES  419 

Truth  is  many  sided,  and  different  men,  having  different 
points  of  view,  see  different  sides  of  truth,  and  place  their  em- 
phasis differently.  These  differences  do  not  preclude  harmony; 
indeed,  they  are  essential  to  it,  and  harmony  is  nobler  than 
unison. 

To  deprecate  the  overemphasis  of  beHef  is  not  to  underesti- 
mate the  importance  of  the  truth,  for  they  are  by  no  means  iden- 
tical. My  belief  is  ray  apprehension  of  the  truth,  not  necessarily 
the  truth  itself.  The  truth  remains  unchangeable,  but  my  belief 
changes  as  I  grow.  It  is  often  the  tenacity  of  a  man's  belief  which 
prevents  his  coming  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  because  it  pre- 
vents his  growth. 

Let  me  not  be  understood  to  underestimate  the  importance 
of  belief.  There  is  profound  truth  in  the  saying,  "Sow  a  thought 
and  you  reap  an  act;  sow  an  act  and  you  reap  a  habit;  sow  a 
habit  and  you  reap  a  character;  sow  a  character  and  you  reap 
a  destiny." 

Belief  is  important,  but  it  is  not  a/Z-important.  It  is  the 
least  satisfactory  of  the  three  possible  tests  of  character,  as  it 
is  the  narrowest  of  the  three  bases  of  fellowship.  The  creedal 
basis  is  sure  to  result  in  classifications  which  are  palpably  absurd. 

The  next  larger  circle  of  religious  fellowship  is  that  of  com- 
mon feeling.  As  Wesley  said:  "We  cannot  all  think  alike,  but 
may  we  not  all  love  alike?" 

The  great  creeds  of  Christendom  are  divisive,  but  its  great 
hymns  are  unifying;  because  they  are  not  theological  but  devo- 
tional, expressing  the  oneness  of  feeling  which  comes  from  one- 
ness of  experience.  We  Protestants  sing  Cardinal  Newman's 
"Lead,  Kindly  Light,"  and  Bernard  of  Clairvaux's  "Jesus,  the 
Very  Thought  of  Thee  With  Sweetness  FHls  My  Breast,"  and 
forget  to  remember  that  they  are  Roman  Catholic.  Presbyterians 
sing  Wesley's  "Jesus,  Lover  of  My  Soul"  with  Wesleyan  fervor 
and  sympathy;  and  Methodists  sing  "Eock  of  Ages  Cleft  for  Me," 
forgetting  that  the  Presbyterian  Toplady  was  a  stinging  con- 
troversialist. We  Evangelicals  all  unite  in  singing  Sarah  Adams' 
"Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee,"  and  Sir  John  Bowring's  "In  the  Cross 
of  Christ  I  Glory,"  quite  unconscious,  perhaps,  that  we  are  fel- 
lowsWpping  ITnitarian  hymns.  And  let  me  add,  only  this  week 
in  a  Jewish  synagogue  I  heard  a  Jewish  choir  sing,  as  its  own 
selection,  one  of  Charles  Wesley's  hymns,  "Love  Divine,  All  Love 
Excelling,  Joy  of  Heaven  to  Earth  Come  Down."     Hymns  pass 


420  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

current  among  all  denominations,  if  so  be  they  are  true  coin  of 
the  Kingdom;  and  that  Kingdom,  bretl-iren,  is  larger  than  we 
know,  much  larger  than  can  be  embraced  by  any  of  our  divisive 
creeds. 

But  feeling  is  by  no  means  a  satisfactory  test  of  character. 
It  is  entirely  possible  for  a  man  to  sing  hymns  with  unction  on 
Sunday,  and  cheat  his  neighbor  with  deliberation  on  Monday; 
and  that,  too,  without  being  a  conscious  hypocrite.  As  a  man 
may  believe  without  feeling,  so  a  man  may  feel  without  obe3dng. 
Because  of  differences  of  taste  and  of  training,  religious  feeling 
expresses  itself  in  different  forms  of  worship,  and  a  form  of  wor- 
ship which  is  helpful  to  one  may  hinder  another.  A  liturgical 
or  non-liturgical  basis  of  fellowship,  therefore,  is  not  satisfactory. 
The  circle  of  feeling  may  include  those  who  have  never  surren- 
dered themselves  to  the  wiU  of  God,  and  who,  therefore,  caimot 
be  one  with  those  who  have  come  into  harmony  with  Him. 

The  third  circle,  which  is  one  of  purpose,  of  action,  is  not 
only  more  inclusive,  but  more  true  as  a  basis  of  fellowship,  be- 
cause it  is  more  truly  indicative  of  character.  A  man's  creed  is 
not  decisive,  nor  yet  a  man's  feelings.  It  is  his  will  which  con- 
stitutes him  a  moral  being,  and  it  is  the  character  of  the  will 
which  makes  the  character  of  the  man. 

Moreover,  we  have  the  divine  example  for  making  the  will — 
oneness  of  purpose — the  basis  of  fellowship.  The  Master  said, 
"'Whosoever  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father,  the  same  is  my  brother.'' 
Not  he  who  professes  to  do  it — creed,  but  he  who  does  it — ^life. 
"He  is  righteous  that  doeth  righteousness";  not  he  that  believes 
right,  nor  he  that  feels  right,  but  that  does  right. 

Belief,  devotion,  life  are  by  no  means  unrelated.  A  man  is 
not,  like  an  ocean  liner,  divided  into  several  watertight  compart- 
ments. Thought,  feeling  and  action  all  influence  each  other,  but 
it  is  the  will  rather  than  the  sensibilities  or  the  intellect  which 
is  fundamental  to  character. 

Here,  then,  is  the  true  basis  of  the  oneness  of  God's  people. 
"Whosoever  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father."  That  word,  "Whoso- 
ever" is  one  of  the  great  circles  of  truth  which  is  all  inclusive. 
It  embraces  every  race  and  every  religion — "Whosoever  doeth  the 
will  of  my  Father,  the  same  is  my  brother."  The  Master's  breth- 
ren are  my  brethren.  No  man  needs  a  broader  basis  of  fellowship 
than  that;  and  I  do  not  dare  to  make  a  narrower  basis  of  fel- 


ESSENTIAL   UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCHES  421 

lowship  than  that,  for  to  disfellowship  those  whom  Christ  fel- 
lowships is  in  an  important  sense  to  disfellowship  him. 

Even  those  who  make  exclusive  claims  as  to  truth  or  valid 
ordinance,  who  exclude  us  from  their  heaven,  and  refuse  to  us 
the  Christian  name  and  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  if  they 
are  doing  the  will  of  the  Father  as  it  is  revealed  to  them,  the 
same  are  our  brethren. 

Though  they  and  we  ditfer  in  belief  and  in  forms  of  worship, 
may  we  not  have  the  fellowship  of  conscious  oneness  of  purpose  ? 
If  we  differ  radically  as  to  the  meaning  and  the  method  of  sal- 
vation, we  cannot  unite  in  our  efforts  to  save  individuals;  but  all, 
of  whatever  name,  who  acknowledge  God's  right  to  reign  in  the 
earth,  should  be  able  to  strike  hands  in  behalf  of  social  right- 
eousness. 

When  the  saloon,  the  brothel,  and  the  gambling  hell  triumph 
because  good  men  will  not  unite,  there  is  high  treason  to  the 
Kingdom  of  God;  good  men  have  failed  to  see  that  their  essential 
oneness  is  not  that  of  belief  or  of  sentiment,  but  that  of  purpose, 
and  therefore  of  action. 

I  rejoice  that  this  great  gathering  aims  at  a  larger  expression 
of  the  oneness  of  God's  people — at  what  might  be  called 
federation  at  the  top;  i.  e.,  closer  relations  through  the  action  of 
ecclesiastical  bodies.  Let  me  also  urge  federation  at  the  bottom: 
i.  e.,  the  active  cooperation  of  local  Churches. 

The  Churches  of  the  same  community,  being  charged  vnth.  its 
Christianization,  having  the  same  great  aims,  holding  essentially 
the  same  great  doctrines,  enjoying  the  same  opportunities,  con- 
tending against  the  same  obstacles,  have  much  more  in  common 
with  each  other  than  with  Churches  hundreds  or  thousands  of 
miles  away,  with  which  the  only  distinctive  bond  is  a  denomina- 
tional name,  a  non-essential  doctrine,  a  common  form  of  govern- 
ment or  of  ritual. 

We  read  of  the  "Seven  Churches  of  Asia,"  but  of  only  one 
Church  in  Ephesus,  one  in  Smyrna,  and  the  like.  There  may 
have  been  several  worshipping  congregations  in  each  city,  but 
there  was  only  one  church  in  each. 

I  foresee  the  time  when  the  churches  of  the  city  will  become 
the  Church  of  the  City,  and  then  will  the  day  be  hastened  when 
the  city  vsdll  become  the  '"City  of  the  New  Jerusalem." 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  Bishop  Daniel  A.  Goodsell,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


Mr.  President:  Federation  has  arrived.  Whence  did  it  come, 
and  how  did  it  get  here? 

The  Churches  are  not  here  by  invention  or  new  foundation  on 
this  soil.  While  eccentric  religionists  have  "sought  out  many  in- 
ventions" and  mothers,  Elijahs  and  "Holy  Spirits  Incarnate"  are 
to  be  named  as  here  with  many  other  whimsies,  the  denominations 
are  in  such  numbers  because  they  were  a  part  of  the  old  life  at 
home  and  came  here  with  the  immigrant.  How  much  they  gave  of 
home  atmosphere  to  those  who  never  expected  to  see  England, 
Scotland,  Holland,  Germany,  Scandinavia  again,  we  know.  The 
house  could  not  be  as  in  the  old  world;  home  customs  could  only 
be  the  shadow  of  what  they  were  across  the  sea.  Other  conditions 
must  be  as  unlike  those  of  the  homeland  as  widely  separated  settle- 
ments and  the  severities  of  pioneer  life  could  make  them. 
Language,  worship,  ritual,  Bible  could  be  as  in  the  Fatherland,  and 
became  all  the  more  dear  as  almost  the  sole  consolation  of  the  home- 
sick. To  preserve  these  became  a  duty,  not  only  for  witness,  but 
for  consolation. 

When  settlements  grew  into  provinces,  and  provinces  into 
States,  and  thin  threads  of  intercourse  were  spun  by  the  adven- 
turous in  business  and  by  the  land  hungry ;  when  new  communities 
were  bom  of  that  strange  drawing  of  men  westward,  the  sacred 
religious  helps  were  carried  by  the  families,  who  heard  "the  call 
of  the  wild,"  beyond  the  Alleghanies.  Here  they  met  others, 
drawn  by  the  same  drawing,  and  yet  of  different  speech  and  differ- 
ent Christian  doctrine.  The  New  England  Church  met  in  the  west- 
ward movement  the  Reformed  Church  of  New  York,  the  Presby- 
terian of  New  Jersey,  the  Baptist  of  Rhode  Island,  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  of  Virginia,  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  sometimes  be- 
fore, sometimes  after.  All  had  been  trained,  in  the  Old  World  and 
in  the  New,  in  controversy.  Controversy,  especially  when  it 
hardens  into  exclusion  and  privilege  under  law,  prejudices,  embit- 
ters, segregates.  By  so  much  as  conscience  was  in  such  differences 
were  the  lines  drawn  between  the  Churches.  By  so  much  as  one 
Church  preceded  another  by  age  and  number,  by  so  much  was  a 
newcomer  an  impertinent  invader,  to  be  chilled  by  indifference, 
turned  back  by  contempt,  rejected  by  controversy,  or  isolated  by 


ESSENTIAL   UNITY  OP  THE  CHURCHES  423 

ostracism.  It  was  surely  diflBcult  under  such  conditions  to  per- 
ceive unity,  and  much  more  to  cultivate  it.  The  mere  fact  of  dif- 
ferent doctrine  or  worship  was  a  criticism  and  protest  against  that 
with  which  it  differed.  "Ours  is  the  faith  once  delivered.  Yours 
is  the  religious  novelty.  We  do  not  need  you,  and  will  not  receive 
you."  Such  for  a  long  time  was  the  spirit  of  American  religious 
life. 

Men  must  have  neighbors  for  sympathy,  protection,  business, 
social  life.  Barter  has  often  been  an  introduction  and  cause  of  the 
first  handshaking.  He  who  greatly  needs  what  another  has  and 
he  has  not  puts  prejudice  under  bars  until  the  bargain  is  made. 
In  this  way  good  discoveries  were  made;  one  of  the  best  that  could 
be  wa^  that  the  Ten  Commandments  may  be  as  dear  to  another  re- 
ligious name  as  to  ours.  When  respect  is  born  toleration  follows — 
not  the  toleration  of  indifference,  but  of  respectful  interest. 

Out  of  some  such  respectful  interest  came  further  intercourse, 
semi-social  or  political.  The  need  of  votes  or,  being  in  possession, 
the  fear  of  losing  them,  has  brought  men  near  enough  for  scrutiny. 
A  Church  with  many  votes  can  be  sure  of  respectful  treatment.  All 
this  is  small  enough  from  the  ethical  side,  but  large  enough  from 
the  side  of  forces  which  make  for  unity  to  have  mention. 

When  one  is  puzzled  how  men  can  be  good  and  believe  as  they 
do,  the  greater  puzzle  comes  later  as  to  how  men  may  believe  as 
they  do  and  die  as  well  as  they  do.  Seeing  this,  the  question  grad- 
ually emerges  into  the  light,  "Are  all  things  I  hold  as  necessary  to 
Christian  character  (which  is  temporal  salvation)  and  to  eternal 
salvation  (of  which  Christly  character  is  the  guarantee)  as  I  have 
thought  them  to  be  ?"  When  one  is  far  enough  on  to  ask  this  the 
barrier  begins  to  lower  from  the  top  and  to  rise  from  the  bottom, 
so  that,  if  one  will,  one  may  crawl  under  to  breadth  of  thought  and 
warmth  of  feeling,  or  climb  over,  as  one  chooses. 

In  this  way  men  have  come,  under  the  freer  life  of  this  Eepub- 
lic,  to  believe  that  heretics  may  belong  to  the  soul  of  the  Church, 
though  not  of  the  body  of  the  Church,  and  that  they  may  be  "the 
other  sheep"  which  the  Master  must  bring.  It  is  no  great  step 
from  this  to  the  abandonment  of  the  idea  that  unity  has  much  to 
do  with  externals  and  obedience  to  a  central  power;  no  great  dis- 
tance then  to  the  clear  sight  of  the  real  unity  for  which  the  Master 
prayed  "that  they  may  be  one  as  we  are."  There  must  be  a  true 
unity  somewhere  when  two  flocks  are  shepherded  by  the  same  good 
Shepherd,  and  we  see  it,  and  know  it,  and  cannot  deny  it. 


424  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

This  unity  is  the  more  clearly  perceived,  acknowledged  and  re- 
joiced over  by  those  who  are  where  they  can  conscientiously  worship 
with  another  Church  than  their  own,  where  their  own  does  not  exist. 
It  must  be  more  vague  and  cloudy  to  those  forbidden  by  their  faith 
to  })ray  with  others,  or  kneel  before  the  Calvary  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion wherever  found. 

The  summer  longings  and  wanderings  have  brought  Christians 
into  fuller  sympathy.  At  home  a  score  of  causes  unite  to  keep  the 
circle  of  religious  life  without  excursion  or  invasion.  Away  from 
home  a  score  of  causes  may  compel  us  to  join  in,  or  at  least  to  wit- 
ness, a  worship  we  should  never  see  at  home.  When  two  men  see 
Cod  in  the  same  cataract,  on  the  same  mountain,  or  by  the  same 
sea,  they  are  brothers.  In  the  same  way  common  sorrows  draw  sad 
hearts  together.  Pestilences,  inundations,  conflagrations,  business 
panics  and  poverties,  reveal  the  Christ  in  the  man  who  does  not  find 
Him  as  we  do.  does  not  praise  Him  with  our  song,  or  pray  to  Him 
with  our  vocabulary,  or  declare  faith  by  the  same  formula.  Those 
who  meet  the  massive  terrors  named  above  in  the  one  patient,  heroic, 
Ghristly  spirit  have  somehow  reached  the  same  place.  Is  it  of 
much  account  how  they  got  there,  if  visibly  they  are  there?  We 
must  not  insist  that  all  came  or  must  come  by  the  same  road,  when 
if  we  lift  ourselves  on  tiptoe  we  can  see  many  roads  converging  and 
pilgrims  on  all  bound  one  way. 

Wider  knowledge  of  the  world  through  mission  work  and  for- 
eign travel  has  helped  also  to  emphasize  more  the  things  in  which 
we  agree. 

The  democrat,  wno  has  never  seen  a  kingdom  or  empire,  cannot 
understand  how  life  can  be  in  any  sense  cheerful,  progressive  or 
contented  under  other  than  republican  institutions;  so  it  seems  to 
the  free  Churches  of  the  United  States  that  establishments  and 
Churches  subject  to  kings  and  Czar,  as  heads  of  the  Church,  must 
stifle  piety  and  prohibit  sainthood.  But  he  who  has  crossed  the 
sea,  however  much  he  may  believe  in  a  free  Church  in  a  free  State, 
learns  that  God's  saints  grow  in  all  soils,  under  all  governments 
and  in  all  communions ;  and  in  heathen  lands  he  learns  to  say  with 
a  startled  Peter,  "Of  a  truth  I  perceive  that  in  every  nation  he 
that  feareth  Him  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  of  Him." 

These  causes,  together  with  the  highest  and  truest  cause  of  all, 
namely,  the  better  perception  that  love  is  the  finest  flower  and  fruit 
of  all  the  graces,  and  is  the  very  Essence  of  God,  have  developed  so 
much  unity  among  the  Protestant  Churches  as  to  make  this  con- 


ESSENTIAL  UNITY  OF  THE  CHURCHES  425 

vention  possible.  It  has  been  preceded  by  beautiful  cooperations, 
fellowships,  assimilations.  The  missionaries  in  foreign  lands,  little 
islets  of  Christianity  in  an  ocean  of  heathenism,  have  mocked  our 
divisions  by  their  courtesies  and  co-workings.  Confronted  by  the 
almost  impenetrable  masses  of  ignorance  and  sin,  they  have  won- 
dered that  we  should  miss  the  sight  of  the  Gibraltar  we  must  storm 
in  mending  the  fences  which  separate  us. 

We  have  come  to  see  that  almost  all  the  religious  vagaries  and 
novelties  of  doctrine  have  been  used  by  God  to  secure  modifications 
of  harsh  doctrinal  statement,  or  to  give  right  place  and  emphasis  to 
some  long  neglected  truth. 

As  the  red-flagged  Anarchist  has  in  him  the  violent  excess  of 
a  noble  idea,  namely,  the  idea  of  the  self-governed  and  self-devel- 
oped man,  so  most  of  these  later  separations  and  novelties  have  in 
them  the  excess  of  a  noble  religious  idea.  Some  with  whom  we 
cannot  in  all  things  affiliate  are  being  used  to  better  define  God's 
unity,  God's  love,  the  power  of  faith  in  disease  and  the  hunger  of 
souls  for  positive  teaching.  All  of  these  have  been  hidden  by 
words,  thought  to  have  been  large  enough  singly  or  sentenced,  to 
contain  the  nature  and  method  of  the  Infinite. 

We  have  come  to  see  that  in  meeting  the  needs  of  different  types 
of  mind,  and  by  an  adjustment  of  machinery  to  method,  more  are 
reached  than  if  one  had  the  care  of  all.  If  we  all  were  organically 
one  we  should  still  be  compelled  to  include  all  of  doctrine,  all  of 
spirit,  all  of  method  we  hold  or  have;  else  divisive  force  would 
work  again  or  rival  orders  disturb  our  unity.  The  man  trained  to 
contain  and  restrain  will  never  worship  like  the  man  whose  impulses 
have  never  been  reined  in.  The  uncultivated  talk  loud,  laugh  loud, 
feel  the  dulness  of  a  silent  world;  the  cultured  are  covetous  of 
quiet  and  say: 

Sacred  silence  thou  that  art 
Floodgate  of  the  deeper  heart. 

The  cultured  hold  free,  rapid  expression  to  be  vulgar.  The 
enthusiasm  of  the  cultured  is  in  patience ;  of  the  uncultured,  in  ac- 
tion. Culture  hesitates  to  invade  another  personality,  as  it  is  slow 
to  open  its  own ;  unculture  will  have  no  secrets  and  tells  its  own  as 
freely  as  it  asks  for  yours.  Philosophical  faith  is  seldom  equal  to 
joyous  martyrdom.  It  can  die  quietly,  but  cannot  joy  in  dying; 
and  the  true  Church  of  Christ  must  hold,  develop,  use,  satisfy, 
inspire  all  these. 


426  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

May  we  not  have,  therefore;  do  we  not  now  have  a  vision  of 
Christian  unity,  which  respects  the  historic  genesis  of  all  the 
Churches;  believes  them  to  be  justified  of  God  if  witnessing  for 
righteousness  and  growing  in  power;  a  unity  which  holds  that  God 
must  be  where  His  Spirit  is  manifested,  breathed,  expressed  in  pure 
words,  kind  deeds,  and  in  all  holy  living ;  a  unity  which  believes  that 
humanity  is  immersed  in  God,  and  therefore  all  good  of  all  men  is 
from  Him ;  a  unity  which  will  not  waste  resource  in  useless  multi- 
plications of  denominational  indexes,  but  seeks  only  to  arrive  where 
inadequate  expression  to  the  truth  is  given,  and  arrive  there  only 
when  it  is  evident  that  what  is  already  pointing  men  Godward  in 
any  place  points  with  wavering  fingers  or  with  a  misleading  twist 
of  direction?  Can  we  not  conceive  of  a  unity  which  believes  that 
the  ultra  democracy  of  one  is  somewhere  more  needed  than  another 
more  compacted  and  command  obeying  order  and  keep  out  of  its 
way?  Can  we  not  hope  for  a  unity  which  will  recognize  that  if 
any  part  of  the  community  is  unchurched  after  j^ears  of  effort  by 
one  Church,  it  is  no  invasion  for  another  to  make  trial  of  success  ? 

Can  we  not  search,  in  short,  that  "unity  of  spirit  in  the  bond 
of  peace"  where  we  shall  see  that  God's  love  will  leap  over  errors 
of  doctrine,  ritual  and  method  in  order  to  save  a  soul;  and  no 
longer  puzzle  ourselves  over  how  it  can  be,  when  it  is  evident 
that  it  already  is? 

Individual  Christians  have  reached  this  unity  in  common  work 
and  precious  personal  relations.  I  know  village  towns  where  the 
only  dissident  among  the  Churches  is  one  that  stands  stupefied 
and  dying  in  the  midst  of  brotherly  vitality,  whose  Christly 
quality  it  denies.  I  know  some  great  souls  in  all  Churches  whose 
exuberant  love  and  activity  touch  helpfully  the  whole  Christian 
world;  and  I  vnll,  and  do  believe,  that  it  is  now  possible  for  us  to 
so  federate,  that  the  world  will  not  have  to  listen  for  separate 
voices  in  a  Babel  of  utterance,  but  hear  one  great,  strong  voice,  the 
united  outcry  of  eighteen  million  hearts,  at  least  in  protest  against 
wTong;  in  the  Christian  tutoring  of  conscience;  in  invitation  to 
Christian  uplift  by  and  through  the  indwelling  Christ;  in  brother- 
hood in  the  redemption  of  Christ,  and  of  cooperation,  without 
rivalry,  except  in  good  works;  without  any  of  the  contemptibili- 
ties  of  jealousy  or  envy;  but  with  all  the  nobilities  of  apprecia- 
tion, fraternity  and  love. 

And,  recalling  the  Plan  of  Federation  this  day  presented,  I 
dare,  with  no  vote  of  authority  behind  me,  seeing  that  you  have 


ESSENTIAL    UNITY    OF    THE    CHURCHES  427 

lifted  up  a  banner  where  the  world  may  see  it,  and  have  written 
on  it  in  letters  of  light,  ''Cooperation,  Federation,  Love,"  I  dare, 
I  say,  write  beneath  this  legend,  in  glad  subscription,  the  name 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  which  my  father,  my  uncle, 
my  brother  and  myself  have  served  the  Lord  Christ  one  hundred 
and  fifty-fire  years. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL  GATHERINGS  IN 
THE   INTEREST  OF  YOUNG  PEO- 
PLE'S  ORGANIZATIONS 


CARNEGIE  HALL 
Sunday  Afternoon,  November  Nineteenth 


BROADWAY    TABERNACLE 
Sunday  Afternoon,  November  Nineteenth 


MEETING   IN   CARNEGIE   HALL 
Address  by  the  Chairman,  Mr.  John  R.  Mott 


It  is  fitting  that  at  the  very  centre  of  this  Inter-Church  Con- 
ference, mth  its  large  objects,  all  promoting  a  closer  unity  and 
cooperation  among  evangelical  Christians,  that  a  place  should  be 
assigned  to  the  organized  Christian  forces  among  the  youth  of 
our  various  Churches;  for  while  discussions  have  been  going  on  for 
many  years  with  reference  to  the  realization  of  these  great  ob- 
jects, the  young  people  have  been  actually  achieving  Christian 
unity,  have  been  illustrating  in  their  organizations  and  work  the 
idea  of  Christian  unity,  and  have  been  demonstrating  the  marked 
advantages  of  Christian  unity.  One  only  need  call  the  names  of 
a  few  of  these  organizations  or  movements  that  unite  the  youth. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  not  only  the  oldest, 
but  in  some  respects  continues  to  be  one  of  the  most  efficient  of 
the  interdenominational  movements  of  the  Church.  Although  it 
was  founded  as  long  ago  as  1844,  its  founder,  Sir  George  Williams, 
passed  away  from  us  only  within  a  fortnight.  Seldom  or  ever  has 
a  founder  been  permitted  to  span  with  his  life  achievements  more 
extensive  or  beneficent,  for  he  lived  to  see  the  society  planted  in 
nearly  fifty  nations,  with  a  membership  of  over  700,000,  and  be- 
come a  mighty  factor  in  the  extension  of  Christ's  kingdom  in 
these  different  nations.  The  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion has  been  paralleling  among  young  women  a  work  similar  to 
that  carried  on  by  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and 
has  already  achieved  most  wonderful  results.  The  Young  People's 
Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  has  become  the  largest  of  the  inter- 
denominational enterprises  of  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  it 
has  accomplished  results  of  incalculable  importance.  The  Brother- 
hood of  Andrew  and  Philip  should  be  mentioned  in  a  special  way 
on  an  occasion  like  this,  because  this  society  was  in  fact  the 
pioneer  of  this  federative  movement.  It  has  organized  councils  in 
at  least  five  denominations  and  has  chapters  in  twenty-four  de- 
nominations, and  has  worked  out  in  a  measure  the  federative 
idea  which  is  to  be  discussed  and,  we  trust,  adopted  in  the  busi- 
ness session  of  this  Conference  to-morrow. 

The  various  denominational  societies  among  the  youth,  the 
Epworth  League,  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union,  the  Luther 

431 


432  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

League,  the  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew  and  other  societies  which 
in  their  respective  fields  are  equally  important  have  all  been  re- 
sponsive to  this  great  federative  idea  and  to  the  idea  of  practical 
cooperation  in  the  realm  of  Christian  and  philanthropic  effort. 

The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions,  bind- 
ing together  the  young  men  and  young  women  of  our  colleges 
and  theological  seminaries,  who  have  gone  out  or  are  to  go  out 
under  the  regular  missionary  societies  of  our  Churches  to  the 
non-Christian  nations  to  become  the  leaders  of  the  aggressive 
forces  of  Christianity,  has  accomplished  a  mighty  result  for 
Christian  comitj^.  Christian  cooperation  and  real  Christian  unity 
in  the  most  difl&cult  fields  of  the  Church.  Within  the  past 
eighteen  years  it  has  sent  forth  from  the  United  States,  Canada 
and  Great  Britain  not  less  than  four  thousand  missionaries,  a 
larger  offering  than  at  any  preceding  time  in  the  history  of  the 
Christian  Church.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  said  to  me  not 
long  since  that  nothing  inspired  him  with  more  hope  than  this  re- 
cent uprising  of  university  men  and  women  for  the  world's  evan- 
gelization; and  when  we  remember  that  it  represents  leading 
spirits  in  not  less  than  forty  divisions  of  the  all-embracing 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  world,  we  see  in.  it 
large  possibilities  for  the  realization  of  the  Christian  ideal  that 
has  brought  us  together. 

The  Young  People's  Mssionary  Movement  is  seeking  by 
uniting  all  organizations  of  the  young  in  North  America  to  make 
possible  an  adequate  base  on  this  continent  for  the  successful 
prosecution  of  this  world-wide  war  in  the  non-Christian  world, 
and  it  is  going  to  make  that  easily  possible. 

The  World's  Student  Christian  Federation  has  fused  together 
some  twenty  national  interuniversity  and  intercollegiate  Chris- 
tian movements  and  is  firmly  intrenched  in  nearly  two  thousand 
separate  universities  and  colleges,  and  has  a  membership  of  over 
100,000  students  and  professors.  From  their  ranks  are  going 
forth  year  by  year  the  coming  leaders  of  Church  and  State,  so  far 
as  that  leadership  is  to  be  a  Christian  leadership.  A  few  months 
ago  it  was  my  privilege  to  attend  the  conference  of  this  federa- 
tion, held  at  Zeist,  the  old  Moravian  community  in  Holland,  and 
there,  although  this  conference  was  limited  to  one  hundred  dele- 
gates, approximately,  we  had  present  the  leaders  of  the  Christian 
forces  among  students  from  thirty  different  nations.     The  most 


UNION  OF  THE  FORCES  OF  CHRISTIAN  YOUTH  433 

antagonistic  nations,  through  the  persons  of  their  representatives, 
came  into  most  intimate  fellowship;  for  example,  the  Japanese 
and  the  Eussians,  the  French  and  the  Germans.  I  observed  among 
these  one  hundred  men  that  stood  for  the  one  hundred  thousand 
members  of  the  federation  that  we  had  all  the  grand  divisions  of 
the  Church  represented;  the  splendid  Lutheran  and  Eeformed 
bodies  of  the  Continent,  the  great  Anglican  and  Free  Churches 
of  the  British  Isles,  the  different  families  of  denominations  of 
the  United  States,  Canada,  Australia  and  New  Zealand  and  repre- 
sentatives of  the  new  and  rapidly  growing  evangelical  churches  of 
Japan,  China,  India  and  Africa.  I  noticed  a  little  motto  in  that 
language  that  all  students  understand,  "Ut  omnes  units  sint,"  taken 
from  the  heart  of  the  prayer  of  our  Lord,  "that  they  all  might 
be  one'^;  and  I  said  to  myself,  this  great  prayer  is  being  an- 
swered in  marvellous  measure  by  this  effective  federation  of  the 
coming  leaders  of  the  Churches. 

How  is  this  union  of  all  these  forces  of  Christian  youth  being 
accomplished?  By  accentuating  the  things  on  which  we  are 
agreed  and  putting  into  the  background  the  things  concerning 
which  we  differ,  and  which,  after  all,  so  largely  are  accidental  and 
incidental.  That  is  one  way  by  which  this  union  is  being 
achieved.  Then,  again,  in  harmony  with  that  sublime  prophecy 
of  Jesus  Christ,  if  He  be  lifted  up  He  will  draw  all  men  unto 
Him,  we  find  these  societies,  by  magnifying  Christ  in  their  plans 
and  in  their  deliberations  and  in  their  practical  work,  and  above 
all  in  the  lives  of  their  members,  are  not  only  drawing  people 
nearer  to  Jesus  Christ,  but  in  that  very  process  inevitably  nearer 
to  one  another.  And  in  a  third  way  they  are  bringing  together 
the  young  people  of  our  day,  and  that  is  by  fusing  together,  as  I 
have  pointed  out,  the  coming  leadership  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Have  you  reflected  upon  it,  that  in  the  colleges  of  the 
United  States  we  have  in  Christian  associations  the  men  who  are 
to  be  the  future  ministers,  and  that  they  pass  into  the  theological 
seminaries,  where  we  have  the  same  society  of  an  interdenomina- 
tional character;  that  this  means  that  these  men  are  bound  to- 
gether by  the  closest  fellowship  for  seven  years  at  least,  working 
together,  planning  together,  praying  together,  coming  to  have 
respect  and  esteem  and  love  for  one  another  ?  Are  they  going  to 
cease  to  do  so  when  they  leave  the  college  and  seminary  walls? 
Certainly  not;  and  experience  shows  that  they  are  not  doing  so. 


434  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

If  the  roll  were  ealled  you  would  find  that  a  large  number  of  the 
moving  spirits  in  this  great  movement  for  Federation,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  are  those  who  learned  this  lesson  in  undergrad- 
uate and  seminary  days. 

In  a  fourth  way  we  are  being  bound  together,  and  that  is  by 
the  unifying  power  of  a  tremendous  task.  All  the  political  parties 
of  Japan  were  ironed  out  in  a  few  days,  and  the  nation  presented 
a  united  front  before  the  stupendous  undertaking  of  fighting 
Russia.  So  with  a  task  before  us  like  the  making  the  United 
States  a  mighty  Christian  nation,  and  the  yet  larger  enterprise  of 
evangelizing  the  world,  if  it  be  in  God's  plan,  as  we  believe  it  is, 
in  our  generation,  we  have  an  undertaking  that  has  made  it  seem 
not  only  desirable  but  absolutely  necessar}^  to  get  together  and  to 
stay  together.  In  the  presence  of  an  unbelieving  world,  whose 
unbelief  is  more  extensive  and  more  intensive  than  can  be  real- 
ized in  any  other  way  save  by  facing  a  great  work  like  this,  we 
have  come  to  see  that  anything  short  of  union  in  spirit  and  prac- 
tical effort  is  destined  to  be  futile.  Therefore,  is  it  strange  that 
the  young  people's  organizations  represented  in  this  meeting  to- 
day received  with  the  liveliest  satisfaction  the  intelligence  con- 
cerning the  holding  of  this  Conference,  and  accepted  with  en- 
thusiasm the  invitation  to  participate  in  it? 

We  are  greatly  favored  in  the  two  speakers  that  we  are  to 
have  as  the  meeting  goes  on,  and  I  esteem  it  an  honor  to  intro- 
duce as  the  first  of  these  speakers  one  so  well  qualified  to  guide 
our  thoughts  and  to  stimulate  our  impulses  to-day ;  one  who,  be- 
cause of  his  true  historical  perspective,  because  of  his  keen  in- 
sight into  the  life  of  nations  and  of  peoples,  and  because  of  his 
sympathetic  touch  with  all  the  best  manifestations  of  life  among 
the  youth  of  our  own  generation,  can  best  present  the  theme,  "The 
Mediation  of  Youth  in  Christian  Progress,"  President  Woodrow 
Wilson  of  Princeton  University. 


THE     MEDIATION      OF     YOUTH     IN     CHRISTIAN 
PROGRESS 


President  Woodrow  Wilson,  LL.D. 


I  esteem  it  a  ^eat  privilege  to  stand  in  tliis  place,  and  yet, 
notwithstanding  the  too  kind  terms  in  which  Mr.  Mott  has  intro- 
duced me,  I  feel  that  there  is  a  touch  of  audacity  in  attempting 
tlie  theme  which  he  has  announced  and  I  have  undertaken,  "The 
Mediation  of  Youth  in  Christian  Progress."  I  wish  that  I  could 
say  with  historical  accuracy  that  I  am  myself  still  a  young  man; 
but,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  I  have  passed  the  age  when  that 
definition  is  strictly  accurate,  I  do  not  feel  that  I  have  passed  the 
age  when  I  may  still  esteem  myself  a  young  man,  married  to  the 
impulses  of  youth,  full  of  the  knowledge  of  those  things  which  come 
by  association  with  youth,  by  association  with  the  influences  which 
are  constantly  impelling  the  human  race  to  move  onward,  with  its 
eye,  not  over  its  shoulder  at  the  path  which  it  has  traversed,  but 
forward  upon  the  difficult  roads  which  it  must  attempt  and  the 
difficult  heights  which  it  must  assail.  It  is  said  that  only  two  sorts 
of  persons  ought  ever  to  attempt  to  teach :  Those  who  are  young 
and  those  who  never  grow  old ;  and  I  hope  that  I  shall  have  red  cor- 
puscles enough  in  my  blood  to  remain  in  the  second  category,  and 
that  those  associated  with  me  in  university  authority,  when  they 
see  the  red  corpuscles  lose  their  ascendency,  will  ask  me  to  step  out 
of  my  task. 

In  order  to  discuss  the  mediation  of  youth  in  Christian  progress 
it  is  first  necessary  to  determine  what  we  mean  by  progress.  I 
think  that  you  will  realize  at  once  that  it  is  a  term  very  difficult  to 
define,  the  contents  of  which  differ  with  every  differing  conception 
of  the  task  of  the  world.  I  think  that  you  will  agree  with  me  that 
progress  does  not  necessarily  consist,  or  consist  only,  in  change; 
that  there  are  some  changes  which  are  destructive  and  not  pro- 
gressive, and  that  progress  seldom  consists  of  radical  change,  be- 
cause society  is  an  organism,  and  everything  which  is  radical  tears, 
and  so  far  as  it  tears  destroys  the  tissue  of  the  organism.  You 
know  that  one  of  the  most  dreadful  physical  diseases  to  which  flesh 
is  heir — I  mean  the  disease  of  cancer — is  supposed  by  some  stu- 
dents of  medicine  to  consist  in  an  excessive  vitality  in  one  spot  in 
the  organism,  whereby,  returning  to  the  vigor  and  creative  power 
of  infancy,  it  so  outruns  surrounding  tissues  as  to  create  a  centre 

435 


436  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

of  demoralization  and  of  death.  Let  that  stand  for  us  as  an  image 
of  radical  changes  in  respect  of  progress.  It  must  not  be  more 
radical  than  the  tissues  can  stand;  it  must  not  be  faster  than  the 
ligaments  of  society  can  endure.  Progress  consists  in  those  pro- 
gressive changes,  in  those  advancing  stages,  in  those  modifications 
which  come  from  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  of  purpose,  or  of 
desire;  not  of  local  circumstance,  not  of  individual  purpose,  not  of 
tlie  desire  of  a  little  group  of  men,  but  from  some  general  reckon- 
ing of  the  circumstance  of  men,  from  some  general  assessment  of 
the  purposes  of  mankind,  from  a  knowledge  of  the  general  desires 
and  needs  of  the  human  heart  and  human  nature. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  best  leaders  are  those  with  ordinary 
opinions  and  extraordinary  abilities,  those  who  hold  the  opinion  of 
the  generation  in  which  they  live,  but  hold  it  with  such  vitality, 
perceive  it  with  such  executive  insight,  that  they  can  walk  at  the 
front  and  show  the  paths  by  which  the  things  generally  purposed 
can  be  accomplished.  There  is  in  progress  a  necessary  conserva- 
tive element,  and  therefore  it  behooves  us  to  ask  whether  we  can 
entrust  progress  to  young  men.  Those  who  do  not  deal  with  large 
bodies  of  young  men  suppose  that  young  men  are  radicals.  I  have 
never  found  them  so.  I  think  the  most  arch  conservative  I  ever 
dealt  with  is  the  American  undergraduate.  He  does  not  want  any- 
thing touched  with  change.  He  forms  a  custom  in  his  little  com- 
munity in  four  years ;  the  fifth  year  it  has  become  immemorial,  and 
he  forbids  us  to  touch  the  immemorial  observances  of  the  little 
community  which  he  loves.  He  wishes  you  not  to  alter  even  the 
exterior  appearances  of  things  on  the  grounds  where  he  has  spent 
his  life,  in  the  buildings  to  which  his  affections  have  begun  to  cling 
in  such  a  way  that  they  can  never  be  torn  away.  It  seems  to  him 
desecration  to  touch  the  slightest  thing  that  has  been  intimately 
associated  with  his  short  experience.  There  is  no  tenacity  like  the 
tenacity  of  the  young  mind,  and  there  is  no  conservative  like  the 
young  conservative,  and  I  believe  that  the  most  conservative  body 
you  can  find  is  a  body  of  young  men.  The  diflBcult,  the  dangerous, 
the  desperate,  radicals  whom  I  have  known  have  been  men  past 
middle  life,  men  upon  whose  palates  the  taste  of  life  has  turned 
bitter,  men  for  whom  experience  has  brought  disappointment,  men 
whose  ambitions  have  been  checked  and  cooled;  these  are  the  des- 
perate radicals  who  want  to  clear  some  new  stage  upon  which  they 
can  assert  their  power;  not  the  youngsters  compounded  of  hope, 
not  the  youngster  hopeful  of  everything,  but  the  man  who  has  lost 


MEDIATION  OF  YOUTH  IN  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS         437 

the  impulse  of  hope  and  is  standing  near  to  the  darkness  of  despair. 
He  is  your  radical,  your  revolutionist,  your  man  of  reckless  change. 

And  yet  this  is  true  only  in  a  certain  field.  The  youth  is  con- 
servative in  this  respect,  that  he  did  not  himself  originate  his  own 
convictions.  The  young  man  takes  his  convictions  from  the  world 
into  which  he  is  born,  which  is  the  world  of  older  persons ;  he  takes 
his  convictions  from  the  preceding  generation.  Your  radical  is 
your  man  of  new  and  novel  convictions ;  not  your  man  who  takes  his 
doctrine  from  the  generation  that  precedes  him,  but  the  man  who 
seeks  to  originate  a  doctrine  for  his  own  generation.  There  are 
young  men  who  seek  such  change ;  but  you  will  generally  find  upon 
analyzing  the  convictions  which  they  urge  upon  their  generation 
that  they  are  not  new,  but  old.  One  of  the  difficulties  about  our 
education  at  the  present  time  is  that  we  do  not  thoroughly  enough 
apprise  our  young  men  of  what  has  been  done.  The  educated  mind 
is  the  lobe  in  the  human  brain  which  contains  the  memory,  the 
memory  of  what  the  human  race  has  done  and  thought  and  at- 
tempted and  achieved  and  failed  to  achieve,  and  if  this  lobe  of 
memory  be  not  properly  stimulated  the  race  will  lose  its  sense  of 
identity.  The  psychologist  tells  me  that  I  know  who  I  am  to-day 
because  I  remember  who  I  was  yesterday,  and  if  I  did  not  remember 
who  I  was  yesterday  I  could  not  for  the  life  of  me  tell  you  who  I 
am  to-day.  And  so  the  human  race.  Unless  it  can  reckon  truly 
with  regard  to  its  past  experiences,  it  has  lost  both  its  identity  and 
its  direction. 

For  if  I  do  not  know  where  I  came  from  I  do  not  know  where 
I  am  going  to.  My  direction  is  determined  not  by  the  spot  upon 
which  I  stand,  but  the  direction  from  which  I  have  come,  and  the 
recollections  of  the  human  race  are  the  standards  by  which  it  steers. 
See  the  consequence  wlien  it  does  not.  I  had  a  friend,  a  very 
learned  friend,  learned  in  certain  narrow  lines,  who  undertook  to 
reconcile  all  the  arts  under  a  common  category.  He  worked  out  a 
beautiful  and  symmetrical  system  that  was  most  pleasing  to  the 
abstract  mind  and  submitted  it  to  a  colleague  for  his  comment, 
who  said:  "My  dear  fellow,  that  is  most  interesting,  and  always 
has  been  interesting,  but  was  exploded  in  the  time  of  Aristotle." 
There  would  have  been  a  great  deal  of  effort  saved  this  gentleman 
if  he  had  only  recollected  as  far  back  as  Aristotle.  The  educated 
youngster,  therefore,  is  the  youngster  who  carries  the  precious  fruit 
of  memory.  He  carries  a  compass,  besides,  for  he  knows  which  is 
the  north  and  which  is  the  east  and  which  is  the  west:  and  he  is 


438  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

not  your  natural  radical;  he  is  your  natural  conservative;  the  stock 
that  he  means  to  trade  on  in  this  generation  is  the  stock  which  was 
accumulated  in  the  last  generation. 

But  the  youngster  is  progressive  none  the  less — in  a  sense  which 
older  men  seldom  sufficiently  realize.  The  youngster  does  not  take 
his  convictions  with  any  very  nice  discrimination;  he  takes  them 
whole,  in  the  mass,  as  they  are  administered  to  him,  in  the  bulk. 
The  difficulty  with  us  older  men  is  that  we  sickly  the  whole  matter 
over  with  the  pale  cast  of  thought.  We  begin  to  analyze ;  we  begin 
to  split  hairs  betwixt  north  and  northeast  side ;  we  begin  to  say  this 
part  of  the  doctrine  is  true,  that  part  is  false,  this  part  of  the 
Gospel  is  true,  that  an  interpolation,  and  the  bulk  ceases  to  beat 
upon  us  with  its  whole  majestic  force.  We  feel  the  little  discrimi- 
nations that  pull  us  this  way  and  that,  and  by  the  time  we  reach 
sixty  or  thereabouts  these  pullings  have  slackened  all  the  speed  in 
us,  and  we  stand  still  and  say,  Whither  shall  we  go  ?  Whereas  the 
youngster  does  not  discriminate  between  one  part  of  the  force  and 
the  other;  he  goes  steadily  forward  before  the  beating  wind  that 
blows  upon  him  out  of  the  past.  Professor  Langley,  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  not  long  ago  tried  a  very  interesting  experiment. 
He  was  interested  to  know  how  even  the  weaker  kinds  of  birds 
could  stand  still  with  outstretched  wings  in  a  gale,  not  being  driven 
by  it,  but  simply  tipping  themselves  very  gently  and  deftly,  shift- 
ing themselves  and  standing  always  still,  not  driven.  He  erected 
in  a  window  a  little  line  of  paper  windmills  such  as  we  have  all 
used  when  we  were  bo3's,  and  through  this  window  blew  a  powerful 
draught  of  air.  He  found  that  not  all  of  the  windmills  rotated 
in  the  same  direction,  that  some  were  reversing,  that  others  were 
standing  still ;  and  it  became  evident  to  him  that  the  wind  was  not 
a  solid  movement  of  the  air,  but  a  movement  in  eddies,  in  currents, 
in  counter  currents,  the  most  of  the  movement  being  forward,  but 
not  every  part  of  it  moving  forward  at  once;  and  that  what  the 
bird  was  doing  was  finding  the  interstices  in  the  wind  and  bal- 
ancing himself  where  the  gale  did  not  beat  upon  him.  That  is 
what  we  are  doing  in  our  discriminations  of  doctrine.  But  the 
youngster  is  like  a  boat  with  a  sail  spread  to  the  breeze.  He  may 
sometimes  run  close  to  the  wind,  but  nevertheless  he  is  governed 
by  the  bulk  of  the  current  and  not  seeking  the  interstices  where 
it  does  not  blow  and  impel  him ;  and  so,  being  impelled  more  than 
we  are  impelled,  he  seems  to  have  a  pace  that  we  cannot  accom- 
plish.    He  is  yielding  himself  to  the  net  power  that  is  in  the  con- 


MEDIATION   OF  YOUTH  IN  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS         439 

victions  which  he  holds,  and  so  he  moves  forward  with  a  confidence 
that  seems  rash,  with  a  confidence  which  seems  blind  to  those  of 
us  who  are  older,  more  circumspect,  more  prudent,  more  thoughtful. 
I  sometimes  think  of  the  movement  of  youngsters  in  the  field 
of  thought  like  the  movement  of  volunteers,  particularly  AmericaD 
volunteers,  in  military  movements.  The  volunteer  will  often  ac- 
complish what  the  seasoned  troops  cannot,  because  the  seasoned 
troops  know  where  it  is  dangerous  to  go  and  the  volunteers  do  not, 
and  by  their  very  ignorance  of  danger  they  face  and  accomplish 
impossible  tasks.  Not  only  that,  but  the  volunteer  is  impatient 
of  discipline  when  he  is  in  process  of  movement.  He  wishes  to 
act  as  an  individual;  wants  his  fellows  at  his  side,  but  will  not 
stop  if  they  lag;  and  will  often  in  little  groups  climb  some  height 
that  it  was  supposed  no  troops  could  take — not  overcoming  the 
obstacles,  not  knowing  that  they  are  there,  unconscious  that  he  is 
climbing  barriers,  with  his  eyes  so  lifted  that  he  sees  no  barrier 
and  scrambles  to  the  place  of  power  witli  the  sheer  impulse  of 
ignorant  audacity. 

This  is  the  power  that  is  in  youth ;  this  is  the  power  that  makes 
us  afraid  of  young  men.     Convince  them  of  something  and  let 
them  get  the  bit  in  their  teeth,  and  they  will  bolt  in  spite  of  you. 
If  you  do  not  want  them  to  bolt,  do  not  convince  them.     If  you 
want  them  to  bolt,  have  convictions  that  are  sufficiently  hot  to  be 
communicated,  and  they  will  take  them.     They  are  a  transmitting 
medium,  but  the  only  thing  that  can  set  them  on  fire  is  fire  itself. 
This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  function  of  youth,  which  I  should  des- 
ignate as  the  function,  not  of  pushing  ideas — that  is  a  function  of 
discrimination — ^but  the  function  of  pushing  ideals  forward  in  the 
world ;  and,  after  all,  one  ideal  is  worth  twenty  ideas.     I  mean  in 
propulsive  force;  I  do  not  mean  in  intellectual  training,  but  in 
propulsive  force,  in  accomplishment,  in  what  one  may  call  spiritual 
dynamics.     One  ideal  is  worth  twenty  ideas.     It  takes  a  certain 
movement  of  an  idea  to  make  it  an  ideal.     No  mere  idea,  strippped 
and  naked,  is  fit  to  become  an  ideal;  you  have  to  dress  it  becom- 
ingly, you  have  to  recommend  it  in  insinuating  ways,  you  have  to 
illuminate  it  with  poetical  touches,  you  have  to  give  it  a  certain 
halo  which  does  not  properly  belong  to  any  human  idea,  and  it  is 
this  transfiguration,  this  image  of  the  imagination,  which  makes 
it  an  ideal.     Believe  me,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  we  live  by  poetry, 
not  by  prose.     We  live  in  proportion  as  we  have  creative  imagina- 
tions,  not  in   proportion   as  we  have   discriminative  minds.     We 


440  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

live  in  proportion  as  we  see  visions,  not  in  proportion  as  we 
discriminate  what  can  actually  be  perceived  with  the  trained  eye  in 
the  light  of  noonday.  You  must  show  the  youth  what  he  can  see 
in  that  hour  of  dawn  in  which  he  uses  his  eyes,  not  in  the  hot, 
unshaded  hour  of  noon  in  which  some  of  us  live,  and  not  in  the 
dying,  fading,  pale  light  of  the  evening  coming  on,  but  in  that 
transforming  light  of  the  morning,  when  everything  looks  as  if 
it  were  touched  with  the  power  and  the  beauty  of  poetry;  and  if 
you  can  communicate  such  ideals,  why,  then,  these  youngsters  are 
fit  stuff  to  seize  the  banners  of  any  enterprise  and  carry  them 
forward  where  you  wish. 

I  have  sometimes  asked  myself  why  it  is  that  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  can  succeed  in  certain  foreign  fields  where 
the  ordinary  missionary  has  been  stopped  and  balked.  There  seems 
to  be  in  certain  countries — for  example,  in  China — a  limit,  a  social 
limit,  in  some  communities,  to  what  the  missionary  can  accom- 
plish. He  can  do  his  work  with  the  poor  and  illiterate,  but  appar- 
ently he  cannot  touch  the  literate  classes ;  and  yet  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  has  gone  in  and  taken  hold  of  the  sons  of 
tlie  governors  of  provinces  and  is  moulding  them,  the  magnates  of 
the  next  generation,  to  its  purposes  and  ideals.  Why  ?  I  offer  my 
own  explanation  with  a  great  deal  of  modesty,  for  I  am  not  sure 
that  it  is  the  right  explanation,  but  I  think  it  will  bear  your 
examination.  Because  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
does  not  undertake  to  teach  dogma.  It  undertakes  to  teach,  but 
not  dogma;  it  undertakes  to  do  that  sort  of  teaching  which  is 
leadership  in  life.  Now,  while  I  believe  that  all  truth  is  dogma, 
I  do  not  believe  that  all  dogma  is  truth.  While  I  believe  that  all 
truth  may  be  formulated  as  dogma,  I  also  believe  that  the  formu- 
lation of  it  removes  it  from  the  vital  sphere,  if  I  may  so  express 
it,  into  the  intellectual  sphere,  and  that  if  you  try  to  indoctrinate 
you  are  not  communicating  power  to  those  who  are  not  the  proper 
subjects  of  indoctrination.  What  is  the  consequence  ?  Look  at  the 
tests  of  any  one  of  your  Churches.  Are  the  members  of  the  Churches 
a.sked  to  subscribe  to  the  doctrines  that  the  ministers  of  the  Churches 
subscribe  to?  No.  You  will  find  that  the  members  are  brought 
in  upon  a  minimum  of  faith,  a  minimum  of  doctrine  which  really 
belongs  to  all  the  Churches,  and  that  the  intellectual  part  of  it, 
that  which  must  lie  back  of  the  teaching  and  form  its  foundation, 
but  need  not  form  the  subject  matter  of  the  teaching,  is  left  to  the 
intellectual  part  of  the  Church,  the  trained  part  of  the  Church, 


MEDIATION  OF  YOUTH  IN  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS        441 

the  scholarly  part  of  the  Church,  namely,  the  ministry  of  the 
Church.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  ministers  of  the  Church  could 
teach  truly  unless  they  studied  dogma  discriminately,  but  I  be- 
lieve that  if  they  transferred  the  teaching  of  the  theological  class- 
room to  the  Church  itself,  they  vs^ould  communicate  dogma  and 
not  life,  and  that  in  so  far  as  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion has  exceeded  in  success  the  missionaries  of  the  Church,  ita 
success  has  been  due  to  the  fact  that  it  has  sought  to  lead  men  on 
in  the  general  paths  of  enlightenment  and  of  character  without 
trying  to  impress  upon  them  too  soon,  too  suddenly,  too  didac- 
tically, too  emphatically,  the  distinguishing  dogmas  of  particular 
Churches. 

I  know  that  there  is  a  very  controversial  ground  here  and  that 
1  am  very  safe  inasmuch  as  nobody  is  going  to  answer  me;  and  1 
do  not  want  for  a  moment  to  neglect  the  danger  and  the  difficulty 
of  points  of  this  sort.  You  may  easily  obscure  such  matters.  I 
was  talking  with  a  couple  of  gentlemen,  just  before  coming  into 
the  room,  about  those  Christians  who  propose  salvation,  not  by 
faith  in  Christ  so  much  as  by  character,  by  the  direct  and  con- 
scious cultivation  of  character;  and  I  said  that  it  seemed  to  me 
that  salvation  by  character  was  an  enterprise  of  despair,  because — 
I  do  not  know  how  you  feel  about  your  character  but  I  know  how 
I  feel  about  mine,  and  I  wouldn't  for  anything  I  can  think  of  offer 
it  as  a  certificate  for  salvation.  Moreover,  I  believe  if  I 
set  out  to  form  my  character  as  the  chief  object  of  my 
life  I  would  become  an  odious  prig.  1  am  not  put  into  this 
world  to  make  a  handsome  creature  of  myself;  I  am  put  into  it 
to  follow  the  right  leaders  and  to  serve  my  fellow-men;  and  if  I 
do  my  business  my  character  will  take  care  of  itself.  Character  is 
a  by-product,  and  if  you  set  to  work  to  make  the  by-product  for 
its  own  sake  you  will  spoil  the  main  product.  I  would  not  have 
you  think,  therefore,  that  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
is  merely  an  enterprise  for  the  formation  of  character.  It  is  an 
enterprise  for  teaching,  for  teaching  those  things  belonging  to  all 
Christian  creeds  which  vitalize  all  Christian  creeds,  and  which  ex- 
press themselves  in  character;  and  I  believe  that  it  is  because  of 
the  appreciation  by  pagan  peoples  of  the  fact  that  these  bodies  of 
young  men  have  come,  not  to  turn  them  from  old  ways  of  thinking 
for  the  purpose  of  a  singular  conversion,  but  to  turn  them  from 
old  ways  of  thinking  for  a  new  comradeship  in  the  handsomest 
enterprises  of  life,  that  it  is  having  its  notable  success. 


442  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

But  what  is  the  motive  power  in  all  of  this?  Why  is  the  youth 
speedier  than  his  elder  in  the  enterprises  which  he  undertakes? 
Why  has  he  done  all  these  extraordinary  things  since  1844?  Be- 
cause the  key  to  all  the  endeavors  of  young  people  is  ardor,  devo- 
tion. I  know  that  there  is  a  certain  amount  of  ardor  and  devotion 
left  in  everybody,  but  it  is  not  always  important  in  quantity.  Men 
do  lose  their  impetus,  their  momentum.  I  for  my  part  believe 
that  everything  anybody  does  is  done  from  ardor  unless  it  be  merely 
the  compulsory  earning  of  your  daily  bread.  I  believe  that  every- 
thing that  a  man  accomplishes  he  accomplishes  because  it  is  palat- 
able to  him  to  accomplish  it;  and  that  is  the  other  side  of  ardor.  I 
hear  some  men  say  that  they  are  not  sentimental.  Well,  I  do  not  be- 
lieve in  sentimentality,  but  I  do  believe  in  sentiment,  and  it  is  the 
only  motive  power  that  I  know  of.  If  a  man  tells  you  that  he 
does  not  derive  his  freshness  from  sentiment,  you  may  believe  that 
he  has  covered  over  the  walls  of  his  sentiment  with  adamant,  but 
if  you  will  dig  it  away  you  will  see  the  gleam  of  the  water;  else 
he  would  go  dry  at  the  roots.  A  man  who  has  not  gone  dry  at  the 
roots  has  a  fountain  of  sentiment  where  he  is  planted,  and  this 
fountain  bubbles  most  luxuriantly,  bubbles  most  steadily  and 
freshly  by  the  root  of  the  young  tree,  by  the  root  of  the  youth. 
Ardor  is  the  secret  of  their  impulse,  of  their  momentum. 

And  ardor  can  never  centre  in  oneself.  I  do  not  know  that  I 
can  safely  use  a  figure  from  mechanics,  but  I  suppose  that  if  a 
machine's  power  all  centres  on  itself  it  will  either  wreck  itself  to 
pieces  or  stand  still.  At  any  rate,  I  know  that  is  true  of  a  man, 
that  if  he  centres  his  powers  on  himself  he  will  presently  get  a 
rotatory  momentum  which  will  make  him  fly  to  pieces;  at  any  rate 
it  will  swing  the  soul  out  of  him  into  space.  And  the  only  senti- 
ment, the  only  ardor  which  ever  drives  the  human  heart  at  its 
best  is  the  ardor  of  love,  is  the  ardor  of  love  for  something  outside 
of  yourself;  and  the  best  love,  as  you  need  not  be  told,  is  the  love 
for  the  best  object,  is  the  love  for  Christ  Himself.  What  it  seems 
to  me  that  these  young  people's  societies  are  doing  is  to  make  their 
own  contacts  at  first  hand  with  the  person  and  power  of  Christ, 
and,  having  made  that  contact,  to  ask  themselves  this  question, 
What  would  Christ  have  done  in  this  world  at  this  time,  in  our 
place,  with  our  opportunities?  Not  what  would  Christ  have 
taught,  not  what  new  parables  would  Christ  have  formed — for  the 
old  parables  fit  every  age  of  the  world,  the  old  teaching  is  trans- 
latable into  all  languages  and  all  purposes  and  all  necessities — but 


MEDIATION  OF  YOUTH  /iV   CHRIISTlAy  PROGRESS         443 

what  would  Christ  have  done  in  the  direction  of  these  enterprises? 
What  would  He  have  wished  to  see  accomplislied  in  the  world, 
and  what  would  He  have  set  Himself  to  accomplish  ? 

Though  myself  brought  up  in  the  straitest  sect  of  a  particular 
denomination,  I  believe  that  there  is  no  more  vitality  in  one  de- 
nomination than  in  another  if  both  be  in  direct  contact  with  the 
person  of  Christ;  and  that  if  one  be  in  direct  contact,  and  the 
other  only  in  indirect  contact,  with  a  padded  interval  of  sophisti- 
cated doctrine,  the  first  will  be  the  stronger  of  the  two,  and  that 
you  must  look  to  it  that  your  doctrine  is  not  padding  but  something 
that  will  transmit  the  currents.  Some  men's  doctrine  is  so  like 
padding  that  they  seem  to  be  in  a  padded  cell,  to  judge  by  their 
performances.  If  you  are  in  direct  contact  with  the  body  and 
character  of  Christ,  why  then  you  have  got  that  all-conquering 
impulse  which  comes  from  the  only  sort  of  devotion  that  ever  lifts 
the  world  to  any  great  enterprise,  a  devotion  which  is  outside  of 
yourself,  in  which  you  can  willingly  devote  everything  that  is  in 
yourself  to  something  that  you  know  will  in  the  very  act  of  absorb- 
ing you  lift  and  translate  you  into  greater  and  better  things.  So 
that  it  seems  to  me  that  the  foundation  of  this  inherited  con- 
viction of  the  young  men  of  this  age,  which  is  to  be  translated 
into  the  momentum  of  power,  is  nothing  else  than  the  Church's 
one  Foundation  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  and  that  in  proportion 
as  Christ  is  exhibited  in  the  lives  of  the  young  men  and  young 
women  of  these  organizations,  in  that  proportion  will  they  be  fit 
for  the  conquest  of  the  world;  and  that  because  they  take  the  im- 
pulses of  the  Church  at  first  hand,  when  they  are  fresh,  when  their 
momentum  has  not  been  lost,  they  are  likely  to  be  the  standard 
bearers  in  the  places  which  have  hitherto  seemed  inaccessible. 


THE   BASES   OF   UNITY  AMONG   YOUNG    PEOPLE 
AND   STEPS  TOWARD  ACHIEVEMENT 


Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer 


Among  the  yoimg  men  and  young  women  of  our  generation 
there  are,  as  Mr.  Mott  pointed  out,  moral  and  spiritual  relation- 
ships already  established  which  are  near  to  Christian  unity.  The 
ideas  of  practical  co-operation  in  work  and  of  spiritual  fellowship 
in  worship  are  ideas  that  are  entirely  familiar  and  congenial  to  us. 


444  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

However  great  the  diflBculties  which  stand  in  the  way  of  an  actual 
realization  of  oneness  among  believers  in  Jesus  Christ  may  appear 
to  others,  those  difficulties  do  not  appear  to  be  great  to  us.  The 
atmosphere  in  which  we  live  is  distinctly  inhospitable  to  thoughts 
of  division  or  separation  among  us.  This  atmosphere  has  changed 
for  us  entirely  from  the  atmosphere  in  which  our  fathers  and  our 
mothers  began  their  Christian  life.  For  one  thing,  as  we  meet 
in  a  gathering  like  this  to-day  we  realize  that  we  are  known  to  one 
another  as  the  young  Christian  men  and  the  young  Christian 
women  of  no  other  generation  were  known  to  each  other.  We  have 
established  friendships  that  bridge  the  chasms  between  the  camps 
of  the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ.  We  are  accustomed  to  meet  in 
great  gatherings  where  we  do  not  ask  one  another  for  our  denomi- 
national names;  we  are  accustomed  to  read  common  books,  to 
write  and  to  read  common  papers,  and  more  and  more  we  are 
bound  together  by  those  simple  ties  of  personal  acquaintanceship 
and  of  friendship  which  make  distrust  impossible.  We  have  dis- 
covered that  we  are  already  of  a  common  heart  and  a  common 
S3mipathy.  It  does  not  please  us  to  have  others  endeavor  to 
remind  us  of  what  lines  of  division  there  may  be  hidden  among 
us;  we  are  glad  to  feel  when  we  gather  that  we  are  all  of  one 
company,  friends  of  one  another,  capable  of  trusting  one  another. 
We  have  been  engaged  so  long  in  practical  work  together  that  it 
would  seem  to  us  something  like  treason  in  the  famUy  to  suggest 
that  there  should  be  antagonism  between  us.  We  are  working 
now  so  closely  for  common  ends  and  purposes  that  here  this 
afternoon,  as  we  look  about  us  and  recognize  everywhere  the  faces 
of  friends,  we  feel  that  there  could  not  be,  that  it  is  morally 
impossible  that  there  could  be,  any  prolongation  of  division 
among  us. 

And  this  atmosphere  has  been  changed,  not  by  any  process  of 
denial  or  exclusion,  but  by  a  simple  process  of  aflBrmation  of  those 
things  that  are  common  to  our  thought  and  lives,  by  a  process 
of  comprehension  that  has  lifted  us  up  above  those  subjects  of 
division  which  have  harassed  those  who  went  before  us,  and  made 
us  feel  that  we  have  already  grounds  for  fellowship  sufficient  to 
warrant  the  closest  possible  union  among  us. 

I  say  we  live  in  an  atmosphere  which  makes  these  ideals  of 
federation  and — I  will  say  with  perfect  frankness — of  Church 
union  entirely  common  and  congenial  ideas  to  us,  and  it  often- 


IDEALS   OF   CHURCH    UNION  445 

times  perplexes  us  to  understand  those  objections  that  are  raised 
by  others  and  those  difficulties  which  others  say  they  feel  in  the 
way  of  the  realization  of  these  ends  that  seem  so  entirely  obvious 
and  practicable  to  us. 

And  it  does  not  exhaust  the  facts  to  say  that  we  live  in  an 
atmosphere  hospitable  to  close  relations  among  Christian  men  and 
women.  We  are  already  in  many  large  and  vital  regards  as  one 
as  Christian  men  and  women  ever  can  be.  We  are  one  in  our 
ideals  now.  We  have  common  ideals,  for  one  thing,  of  what  con- 
stitutes character.  We  admire  the  same  things.  We  are  all  of 
us  worshippers  of  the  heroic  love  of  truth.  I  believe  that  that  is 
our  predominant  ideal  of  character.  Men  and  women  say  often 
that  they  think — older  men  and  women — that  the  fibre  of  Chris- 
tian life  has  softened,  and  they  wonder  whether  there  is  any 
more  in  the  world  of  the  same  heroic  stuff  that  there  once  was.  I 
l^elieve  the  young  Christian  men  and  women  of  the  world  never 
held  as  high  the  reverence  of  heroic  and  self-sacrificing  love  and 
service  of  truth  as  they  hold  it  to-day.  Let  any  test  be  sug- 
gested and  instantly  you  can  see  that  it  is  so.  A  missionary  dies 
at  his  post  in  western  Persia;  his  brother  rises  up  at  once  to  take 
his  place.  A  little  band  of  missionaries  fall  in  southern  China; 
one  and  another  and  another,  missionaries  on  the  field,  students 
at  home,  friends,  relatives  it  may  be  of  those  who  have  fallen, 
rise  up  at  once  to  take  the  place  of  the  dead.  You  might  wipe 
off  the  face  of  the  earth  the  whole  missionary  body  to-day,  and 
we  would  replace  it  within  a  few  years.  The  young  men  and 
young  women  of  the  land  who  follow  Jesus  Christ  are  now  one  in 
their  ideals  of  high  and  right  character.  They  are  one  in  their 
ideals  of  service.  They  relish  tasks,  as  Stanley  said  of  his  lieu- 
tenant, Glave,  for  their  bigness,  and  they  greet  hard  labor  with  a 
fierce  joy.  And  what  has  bound  these  movements  together,  as 
Mr.  Mott  was  suggesting,  has  been  their  common  participation  in 
the  largest  visions.  They  dream,  as  Christ  dreamed,  of  the  sav- 
ing of  a  world,  and  their  ideals  of  service  are  ideals  that  run  with 
the  ambition  of  the  missionary  spirit  which  Christ  fired  when  he 
set  the  Churches  eye  upon  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  We 
are  as  one  now  as  we  ever  can  be  in  our  ideals  of  Christian  char- 
acter and  of  Christian  service. 

We  are  one  already  in  our  consciousness  and  our  conviction 
of  human  need.    We  are  one  in  our  consciousness  of  human  need. 


446  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

Men  and  women  sometimes  think  that  the  young  men  and  women 
of  this  day  are  satisfied  with  themselves.  There  never  was  a 
time  when  young  men  and  young  women  in  the  Christian  Church 
were  as  discontented  with  themselves  as  they  are  to-day,  when 
they  hungered  more  than  young  men  and  women  hunger  to-day 
for  the  glimpse  of  the  highest  possibilities  and  for  the  real- 
ization of  those  possibilities  in  their  own  lives.  I  believe 
'  that  we  are  as  conscious  as  the  Christian  Church  ever  was 
of  our  need  of  a  standard  above  the  whims  and  the  vagaries  of 
our  own  hearts,  and  of  a  power  somewhere  in  this  universe  capable 
of  enabling  us  to  realize  that  standard  in  ourselves.  We  are 
one  already  in  our  consciousness  of  what  it  is  that  we  need,  and 
we  are  one  also  in  our  conviction  of  the  whole  world's  need. 
I  heard  in  this  hall,  the  other  afternoon,  one  of  the  speakers 
pointing  out  that  the  great  need  in  this  land  of  ours  is  salvation, 
and  he  spoke  of  one  regard  after  another  in  which  this  country 
needs  salvation,  to  all  of  which  I  suppose  every  heart  here  gave 
assent ;  but  when  he  had  finished  I  thought  I  could  have  put  it  all 
in  one  monosyllable;  the  land  needs  salvation  from  sirij  and  the 
whole  world  needs  salvation  from  sin;  and  never,  I  believe,  did 
any  men  and  women  in  the  Christian  Church  believe  more  in  the 
reality  and  horror  of  sin  than  the  Christian  of  to-day,  or 
in  the  opening  of  a  salvation  from  sin  in  the  one  source  of  which 
President  Wilson  was  speaking,  and  of  which  I  have  to  say  as 
clear  a  word  as  I  may  before  I  am  done.  The  young  men  and 
young  women  of  this  day  are  one  now  in  their  consciousness  of 
their  own  personal  need  and  of  the  whole  world's  need. 

And  in  the  third  place,  we  are  one  already  in  our  sense  of 
duty  and  in  our  will  to  help.  You  show  the  young  men  and  young 
women  of  this  day  the  thing  that  ought  to  be  done,  and  any- 
body who  knows  their  heart  can  guarantee  that  you  will  call 
from  it  an  instant  and  full  response.  The  young  men  and  young 
women  of  this  day  are  not  less  prepared  than  their  fathers  to 
do  whatever  is  shown  to  them  to  be  their  duty.  They  are  eager 
to  join  in  great  and  aggressive  movements.  These  movements 
of  which  Mr.  Mott  was  speaking  are  all  of  them  movements  of 
aggression;  they  are  movements  designed  to  overthrow  these  ene- 
mies that  wage  their  warfare  against  the  highest  life  of  man; 
and  the  young  people  of  our  day  in  the  Churches  are  gathering 
in  increasing  numbers  under  the  banners  of  these  great  aggres- 


LOYALTY  TO  THE  PERSON  AND  WORK  OF  CHRIST        447 

sive  movements  against  evil.  These  things,  this  warfare,  are  their 
life. 

And  what  is  it  that  is  drawing  theni  together  in  these  move- 
ments ?  It  has  not  been  any  ignoring  of  the  intellectual  ground- 
work on  which  their  movements  rest.  Men  and  women  say  some- 
times that  the  hope  of  Christian  union  is  to  be  found  in  the 
exclusion  of  the  whole  realm  of  opinion  on  subjects  of  religion 
and  the  cooperation  of  men  and  women  in  good  work.  But  what 
good  work?  What  is  good  work?  What  is  to  be  accomplished  by 
the  good  work?  Why  should  we  do  good  work?  The  moment 
we  begin  to  answer  these  questions  we  are  making  definitions. 
We  have  to  state  convictions.  It  is  impossible  for  us  ever  to 
gather  men  and  women  together  on  the  theory  that  their  in- 
tellects must  first  of  all  be  annihilated,  and  that  then  they  will 
join  in  a  movement  from  which  all  thought  has  been  expelled. 
The  young  Christian  men  and  young  Christian  women  of  our  day 
are  gathered  together  in  these  great  movements,  not  because 
they  have  eliminated  their  opinions,  but  because  they  have  dis- 
covered that  in  the  fundamental  things  they  are  at  one  in  their 
opinions.  We  are  at  one — I  am  sure  I  am  speaking  in  this  for 
the  young  Christian  men  and  women  of  our  day — we  are  at  one 
in  our  opinions  on  the  things  that  are  essential. 

We  believe  with  all  our  hearts  in  one  fundamental  thing.  Our 
view  and  conviction  with  regard  to  Jesus  Christ  is  absolutely  clear 
and  unshakable.  We  believe  that  Christ  is  undetachable  from  His 
Gospel ;  that  so  long  as  we  follow  His  Gospel  we  follow  Him ;  that 
the  gospel  was  not  His  message  nor  His  character,  but  the  sum 
total  of  His  impact  on  the  world  and  the  secret  and  the  conse- 
quence and  the  significance  of  that.  President  Wilson  said  that 
young  men  and  young  women  are  conservative.  In  this  regard  we 
are  conservative.  You  can  give  us — ^yes,  I  will  say  it — what  theory 
of  inspiration  you  please,  you  may  raise  what  debates  you  want 
over  questions  of  divine  sovereignty  and  human  freedom,  but  you 
cannot  touch  with  the  consent  of  the  young  men  and  the  young 
women  of  the  Church  the  holy  ark  of  all,  the  person  and  the  work 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  believe  with  all  our  hearts  that 
you  cannot  state  His  Gospel  except  in  Christological  terms.  We 
believe  that  His  incarnation  is  absolutely  essential.  We  believe 
that  His  deity  is  a  fundamental  thing  which  we  dare  not  com- 
promise  or   surrender.     You  may  make   what  propositions   you 


448  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

please  to  the  young  men  and  young  women  of  the  Church  looking 
toward  Christian  union;  so  long  as  they  trifle  with  the  deity  of 
our  Lord  you  waste  your  breath  and  your  propositions  are  futile 
things. 

I  am  sure  that  I  am  speaking  in  this  for  the  great  mass  of 
young  men  and  women  in  the  Christian  Church.  I  do  not  intend 
to  be  disputatious;  I  am  not  saying  these  things  for  the  sake  of 
accentuating  an  issue.  I  am  the  mouthpiece,  I  know,  of  the 
great  mass  of  young  Christian  men  and  women;  and  I  am  speak- 
ing simply  what  they  believe.  These  great  organizations  of  theirs 
have  grown  up  on  this  one  central  fact.  They  believe  in  Christ, 
they  love  Christ,  they  want  to  serve  Christ,  they  want  to  make 
Jesus  Christ  the  Lord  of  all  mankind;  they  call  Him  first  Lord 
and  Saviour,  and  Teacher  afterwards;  and  it  is  because  they  are 
united  in  these  great  convictions  that  the  degree  of  unity  that 
we  have  attained  to-day  is  a  possible  thing.  We  are  one  now, 
one  in  our  ideals,  one  in  our  consciousness  and  conviction  of  need, 
one  in  our  sense  of  duty  and  our  will  to  help,  one  in  our  view 
and  conviction  with  reference  to  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

And  yet  however  one  we  are,  we  should  be  more  one  than 
this.  There  are  expressions  which  this  unity  has  not  received 
which  it  should  receive,  and  there  are  many  regards  in  which 
this  unity  should  be  confirmed  and  enlarged  among  us.  And 
there  are  three  reasons  why  it  should  be  confirmed  and  enlarged 
among  us  now. 

We  should  cultivate  a  larger  Christian  unity  because  it  is 
essential  to  our  apprehensions  of  truth,  to  those  larger  appre- 
hensions of  truth  which  it  is  our  duty  to  bring  in.  It  is  true  that 
the  work  of  critical  construction  belongs  to  the  older  men,  but 
we  are  preparing  to  become  older  men  and  we  hope  that  the  duty 
is  to  be  ours  to  bring  in  by  our  experience  and  the  work  that 
we  are  to  do  in  the  world  larger  comprehensions  of  the  truth 
of  Christ.  And  how  can  larger  comprehensions  of  the  truth  of 
Christ  come  except  as  men  draw  together?  We  have  reached  the 
limit  of  individual  apprehensions  of  Christ;  we  shall  only  know 
more  of  Him  as  we  draw  together  for  those  social  visions  of  Him 
that  are  only  possible  to  all  the  saints,  the  realizations  of  that 
love  that  is  to  be  revealed  to  us  never  alone  but  with  all  the 
saints,  that  unity  of  the  faith  that  we  are  to  attain  never  sepa- 
rately but  only  when  we  all  come  to  it.     It  is  essential  that  we 


REV.  CHARLES   A.  DICKEY,  D.D.,  LL.D.  REV.  AMORY  H.  BRADFORD,  D.D. 


REV.  JOHN  BALTZER,  D.D. 


REV.  C.  ARMAND   MILLER,  D.D. 


l/A'/TY  ESSENTIAL  TO  MEET  PRESENT  NEED  449 

young  men  and  young  women  should  draw  together  in  a  unity 
closer  than  our  fathers  knew,  that  we  may  do  our  duty  to  this 
world  in  hringing  to  it  those  larger  comprehensions  of  Christ  thut 
are  only  possible  when  the  young  men  and  the  young  women  of 
America,  and  the  young  men  and  the  young  women  of  Japan, 
and  the  young  men  and  the  young  women  of  China,  and  the  young 
men  and  the  young  women  of  every  land,  who  have  come  to 
Christ,  bring  all  their  distorted  and  partial  visions  of  Him  into 
one,  and  arrive  at  last  all  together  at  the  unity  of  the  faith  and 
the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God. 

And  in  the  second  place,  a  larger  measure  of  unity  is  neces- 
sary among  us  because  it  is  essential  to  the  service  for  which 
the  world  is  waiting — the  service  that  needs  to  be  done  here  in 
our  own  land,  the  evil  that  needs  to  be  slain  here.  I  ask  you  to 
think  here  this  afternoon  of  what  sin  has  done  in  this  land  of 
ours.  There  is  not  a  household  represented  in  this  hall  to-day 
across  which  sin  has  not  drawn  its  trail ;  there  is  not  a  heart  here 
that  does  not  have  to-day  its  sorrow  that  it  is  the  child  of  sin. 
Let  us  think  for  just  one  moment  of  all  that  needs  to  be  done  in 
this  land  of  ours  to  stamp  sin  under  foot,  to  bring  purity  and 
righteousness  and  honor  and  Justice  and  highmindedness  and  the 
kingdom  of  God  here.  And  then  think  of  the  work  to  be  done  in 
all  the  world,  all  the  error  of  men  to  be  corrected,  all  the  sin 
of  men  to  be  healed,  all  the  wrong  of  men  to  be  undone,  all  the 
institutions  of  men  so  far  as  they  are  composed  of  error  and 
antagonistic  to  the  spirit  of  Christ  to  be  transformed — not  in 
one  nation  alone,  but  the  whole  world  over — a  thousand  millions 
of  sinning  and  suffering  men  and  women,  each  one  of  them  akin 
to  us,  waiting  to  be  told  of  the  Saviour  who  died  for  them  as 
He  died  for  us.  When  we  think  of  the  magnitude  of  the  task 
that  is  before  us,  and  not  of  its  magnitude  alone  but  of  its  diffi- 
culties as  well,  we  realize  how  necessary  it  is  that  we  should 
come  together  into  one.  This  is  no  time  for  waste.  I  will  not 
8peak  of  internecine  warfare.  I  do  not  believe  it  is  possible  any 
longer  that  there  should  be  hostility  within  the  camps.  We  are 
appealing  for  Christian  union  not  because  Christians  are  quar- 
reling with  one  another,  for  they  are  not;  we  are  appealing  for 
Christian  union  because  there  is  waste  where  there  shoxdd  not 
be  waste,  because  the  army  should  be  one  army,  because  brother 
should  now  clasp  the  hand  of  brother,  that  alike  through  the 


450  CHVROH  FEDERATION 

daylight  and  the  night  the  whole  army  may  step  forward  to  its 
mighty  world-wide  task.  The  larger  measure  of  unity  is  essential 
among  us  because  it  is  required  by  the  service  for  which  the 
world  is  waiting. 

And  in  the  third  place,  it  is  necessary  because  it  is  essential 
to  resistless  power  in  prayer.  There  is  in  a  sense  no  such  thing 
as  individual  Christian  experience.  Every  man's  relation  to  Christ 
conditions  every  other  man's  relation  to  Christ.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  the  tearing  loose  of  one  human  unit  and  conceiving  as 
possible  a  full  relationship  between  that  unit  and  the  heart  of 
God.  We  shall,  each  of  us,  come  to  our  right  relationship  to 
God  only  as  we  all  come.  And  that  power  in  prayer  for  which 
the  Church  and  the  world  are  waiting  is  dependent  entirely  upon 
that  unity  among  Christians  which  brings  them  all  together  in 
the  right  relationship  to  God  and  which  lends  to  prayer  its  ab- 
solutely irresistible  power.  We  ought  to  come  together  into 
one  in  order  that  as  one  we  may  release  by  prayer  the  powers 
which  will  effect  the  will  of  God,  that  we  may  secure  at  last 
those  great  things  that  Christ  said  are  ours  when  with  united 
faith  we  come  to  claim  them  for  the  world. 

And  the  achievement  of  this  unity,  let  me  say  last  of  all, 
is  not  an  impracticable  thing.  There  are  ways  in  which  even 
now  we  are  drawing  near  together.  Those  paths  that  lie  behind 
us  we  see,  as  we  look  back  over  them,  to  be  converging  paths, 
and  each  one  of  them  addresses  to  us  an  appeal  to  fidelity,  calls 
us  to  pass  right  on  to  the  point  where  they  all  at  last  shall  meet. 
It  is  very  easy  to  point  out  ways  in  which  we  young  men  and 
young  women  can  hasten  that  day.  I  suppose  the  best  way  to 
hasten  it  is  just  to  practice  the  Christian  faith.  Most  of  the 
things  that  keep  Christians  apart  are  not  points  of  Christian 
principle  but  defects  of  Christian  practice.  Once  Christian  men 
and  women  begin  to  practice  the  Christian  faith  of  love  and 
tenderness  and  kindness  and  self-repression  and  humility,  they 
will  find  that  the  very  practice  of  the  Christian  faith  is  itself  a 
unifying  power. 

And  there  is,  secondly,  the  eager  fellowship  in  Christian  ser- 
vice. I  suppose  no  ideal  has  been  as  responsible  for  this  unity  or 
more  responsible  for  this  unity  than  the  ideal  of  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  whole  world.  At  last  the  dormant  duty  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  has  come  to  view,  and  it  has  been  kept  for  our  gen- 


EVANGELIZATION   OF   THE   WORLD  451 

eration,  nineteen  long  centuries  having  intervened,  to  recover 
the  great  apostolic  conception,  to  recover  the  great  ideal  that 
lay,  the  last  moments  of  His  life  here  on  earth,  upon  the  heart 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  You  remember  all  of  His  last  words: 
"All  authority  hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  among 
men:  go  ye  therefore  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you; 
and  lo,  I  am  with  you  all  the  days,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
age.  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature.  Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both  in  Jerusalem,  and 
in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth."  These  were  the  last  words  that  our  Lord  spoke  here 
upon  the  earth.  Nineteen  hundred  years  have  had  to  pass  until 
we  should  put  first  in  the  activities  of  the  Church  what  was  first  in 
His  thoughts  and  last  upon  His  lips.  And  it  is  that  great  ideal 
that  is  doing  more  than  any  other  to  draw  the  young  men  and 
women  of  the  Christian  Church  of  our  day  together  into  one, 
the  ideal  of  evangelizing  great  and  difficult  peoples,  all  peoples, 
the  four  hundred  millions  of  China,  the  two  hundred  millions  of 
Mohammedanism — I  have  wondered  whether  the  Mohammedan 
missionary  problem  has  not  been  reserved  for  this  day  in  order 
that  it  might  constitute  the  wall  against  which  as  the  Christian 
Churches  hurled  themselves  they  should  discover  that  only  as 
they  fused  together  into  one  and  then  smote  would  they  be  able 
at  last  to  penetrate  that  wall  and  to  conquer  for  Christ  the  two 
hundred  millions  who  have  known  His  name  and  exalted  above 
it  another  name.  It  is  the  eager  fellowship  of  a  great  service 
that  is  to  draw  us  together  into  one.  When  we  think  of  a  world 
that  knows  nothing  whatever  about  Christ,  the  petty  differences 
that  have  separated  our  denominations  in  the  past  seem  to  us 
unworthy  of  continued  justification,  and  we  are  drawn  together 
by  the  sheer  desire  to  be  one  army  against  our  mighty  foe. 

And  in  the  third  place,  the  approach  to  Christ  draws  always 
together  those  who  draw  near  to  Him.  It  is  that  that  accounts 
for  the  spirit  of  affectionate  friendship  among  us.  I  look  down 
on  your  faces  this  afternoon  and  see  many  here  from  Churches 
calling  themselves  by  different  names,  and  yet  we  are  one.  We 
could  not  discover  if  we  sought  for  it  any  lines  of  cleavage  be- 
tween us,  and  we  know  that  what  makes  us  one  is  that  we  are 
all  of  us  controlled  by  one  great  common  passion.    As  Zinzendorf 


452  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

used  to  say,  "It  is  He,  only  He."  As  we  draw  near  to  Him  and 
He  controls  our  hearts,  and  His  passion  fills  our  wills,  we  find 
ourselves  one  with  one  another  because  we  are  one  with  Him. 

And  the  last  thing  that  is  drawing  us  together  is  that  great 
thing  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks  as  the  communion  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  We  look  back  over  the  history  of  the  church  and  we 
see  that  Spirit's  long  delayed  and  lonely  task  as  He  draws  to- 
gether the  scattered  fragments  of  Christ's  body  into  one.  We 
look  in  upon  our  own  hearts,  and  our  own  experiences  tell  us 
of  the  working  of  that  Spirit  in  our  own  lives,  drawing  us  close 
together  in  proportion  as  He  gains  control  over  our  habits,  our 
intellects,  our  hearts,  our  wills  and  all  our  ways.  We  know 
here  to-day  that  just  in  proportion  as  we  submit  ourselves  to  Him 
shall  we  be  drawn  away  from  the  unholiness  of  our  dissension, 
the  un-Christlikeness  of  our  separations,  into  the  one  great  body 
which  bears  His  name  and  of  which  Christ  our  Lord  shall  be 
the  head.  To  some  generation  this  privilege  is  to  be  given;  some 
day  the  Church  will  come  that  shall  realize  at  last  in  itself  the 
blessed  vision  of  our  Lord,  when  all  His  people  shall  be  one.  I 
speak  to  you,  young  men  and  young  women  here  to-day.  This 
is  our  gathering.  We  have  let  these  older  people  come,  but  we 
are  met  here  to-day  to  think  for  a  little  while  together,  and  to 
speak  for  a  little  while  of  our  day  that  is  beginning  to  dawn,  the 
day  when  we  shall  bear  the  responsibility,  when  the  guidance 
of  the  Christian  Church  shall  be  in  our  hands.  Oh,  that  it  might 
be  in  our  day  that  at  last  the  expectant  Christ  should  see  of  the 
desire  of  His  soul  and  be  satisfied,  that  in  our  day  at  last,  for 
the  conviction  of  the  world,  for  the  full  setting  forth  of  the 
divine  unity  of  the  Son  with  His  Father,  those  who  call  Him 
their  Master  might  in  Him  be  one.  I  do  not  know  how  practi- 
cally we  can  draw  near  to  it  save  as  in  all  simplicity  we  take  up 
as  the  rule  of  our  relationships,  of  our  work  and  all  our  life, 
what  He  Himself  described  as  His  new  and  great  commandment : 
"A  new  commandment  give  I  unto  you,  that  ye  love  one  another ; 
even  as  I  have  loved  you,  that  ye  also  shoidd  love  one  another" — 
the  same  word  that  the  disciple  who  loved  Him  best  kept  re- 
peating again  and  again  and  again  until  it  became  the  character- 
istic message  of  his  older  years,  "Little  children,  love  one  an- 
other."   We  can  obey  that  rule.    Nothing  can  prevent  our  doing 


READJUSTMENT   OF  FORCES  453 

SO,  and  if  we  do  so  nothing  can  prevent  the  ultimate  oneness  of 
love. 

My  friends — I  mean  you  of  the  generation  for  which  I  am 
speaking  now — why  should  we  not  begin  now,  even  now,  that  real 
unity  which  shall  bring  us  in  our  day— shall  we  not  dare  to  hope 
for  that  for  which  Christ  prayed  ? — that  shall  bring  us  in  our  day 
all  together,  as  we  are  in  one  Lord  and  one  faith,  also  into  one 
Church. 


MEETING  IN   BROADWAY  TABERNACLE 
Address  by  the  Chairman,  Mr.  Von  Ogden  Vogt 


As  a  preliminary  to  the  main  thought  of  the  hour  I  ask  your 
indulgence  for  a  brief  statement  of  three  remarks. 

Whatever  young  people's  organizations  we  represent,  we  are 
here  first  as  members  of  the  Church. 

We  are  practically  interested  in  the  main  purpose  of  this 
Inter-Church  Conference,  namely,  the  more  effective  disposition 
of  the  Kingdom's  energy.  The  readjusting  programmes  of  social 
institutions  make  a  fascinating  study.  The  needs  of  men,  phys- 
ical, mental,  moral,  religious,  must  be  met.  From  age  to  age, 
even  from  decade  to  decade  now,  these  needs  are  having  more 
adequate  attention.  This  requires  the  change  or  expansion  of 
some  social  forms  and  the  displacement  of  others.  One  good 
work  is  begun  here,  another  there.  By  and  bye  they  come  to 
overlap,  to  duplicate  service.  A  comprehensive  survey  is  needed 
to  readjust  effort  and  release  some  power  for  other  labors. 

The  present  machinery  of  Christian  organization  is  largely 
the  result  of  natural  development.  To-day  is  the  day  to  stop 
and  enquire — Is  this  machinery  anything  like  what  we  would 
build  if  we  had  a  clean  field  and  a  fresh  start  ? 

Australia  is  troubled  by  an  out-of-date  railway  scheme.  The 
railroad  systems  of  the  different  States  use  tracks  of  a  different 
gauge.  At  the  borders  of  each  province  the  traveller  must  change 
cars  in  the  middle  of  the  day  or  of  the  night.  This  is  the  result 
of  natural  development.  Shall  they  wait  for  this  to  work  itself 
out  to  a  better  method  ?  They  are  afraid  some  of  those  narrow 
gauge  tracks  would  have  to  evolve  a  long  while  before  becoming 


454  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

broad  gauge.  They  are  demanding  that  the  situation  be  taken 
in  hand  and  dealt  with  without  waiting  for  the  slower  evolution. 

In  the  name  of  everything  that  differentiates  a  modem  from 
a  mediaeval  economy,  the  young  people  desire  a  like  consideration 
of  the  programme  of  the  Church.  We  believe  in  the  Church. 
We  do  not  want  the  day  to  come  when  any  one  might  say  that 
the  Church  no  longer  chiefly  represents  the  Kingdom  of  God  on 
earth.  We  are  here  first  because  we  want  to  save  our  wasted 
energies  and  build  a  united  strength  for  th.e  things  that  are  not 
yet  done. 

Second,  we  are  here  representing  young  people's  organizations. 
Considering  the  aggregate  numbers  of  individual  church  mem- 
bers involved,  some  of  the  present-day  young  people's  movements 
constitute  far  and  away  the  greatest  force  in  Christendom,  mak- 
ing for  the  harmony  and  economy  of  the  Kingdom's  forces. 

The  Brotherhood  of  Andrew  and  Philip  has  done  well  to 
realize  the  value  of  combined  strength.  The  vast  service  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  would  have  been  and  to-day  would 
be  impossible  but  for  the  cooperation  of  young  leaders  in  dif- 
ferent denominations.  The  issuing  of  joint  text-books  by  differ- 
ent missionary  boards  has  already  enlarged  the  sense  of  the  unity 
of  the  great  work  of  the  Church. 

Without  making  a  catalogue  of  all  these  movements,  it  is  fair 
to  say  that  the  largest  contribution  has  been  made  by  two,  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  the  United  Society  of 
Christian  Endeavor. 

There  are  to-day  almost  two  thousand  Young  Men's  Christian 
Associations  in  North  America.  Every  one  of  them  is  a  place 
where  young  Christians  of  different  faiths  have  been  able  to  join 
in  common  labor.  This  does  not  count  the  many  like  efforts  in 
Europe,  the  Orient  and  other  lands.  There  are  67,200  societies 
of  Christian  Endeavor,  49,520  being  in  America.  Every  one  of 
them  has  lost  something  of  denominational  prejudice  by  their 
common  fellowship.  There  are  1,500  local  city  or  district  unions 
of  these  societies  in  this  country.  In  each  of  these  young  people 
meet  from  one  to  ten  times  a  year  to  plan  for  Christ's  work  and 
engage  in  joint  ministries,  young  people  officially  representing 
their  different  Churches.    Truly  a  federation. 

There  will  come  a  day  when  there  will  be  not  five  kinds  of  Pres- 
byterian churches,  not  to  speak  of  other  denominations,  in  the  same 


INFLUENCE  OF  INTERDENOMiyATIONAL  FELLOWSHIP  455 

little  Missouri  vUlage.  Perhaps  no  other  one  thing  has  done  so 
much  to  bring  that  day  as  this  interdenominational  fellowship 
among  the  young  of  the  Church. 

Thirdly,  we  are  here  to  ask:  Can  we  this  afternoon,  in  the 
light  of  present  conditions,  make  any  progress  in  cooperation? 
Present  conditions  indicate  a  growing  practical  interest  in  this 
matter.  In  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  Episcopal  young 
people  have  recently  been  more  fully  cooperating.  Local  city 
Endeavor  unions  have  the  last  year  much  enlarged  their  joint  min- 
istries, such  as  song  services  in  hospitals,  the  formation  of  mission 
study  classes,  the  organization  of  coffee  clubs  and  many  others.  It 
is  gratifying  to  see  also  that  the  expansion  of  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  will  soon  duplicate  the  service  of  the  young 
men  in  manifesting  harmony.  This  will  be  much  enlarged  by  the 
current  year  unification  of  the  work  of  the  American  and  Interna- 
tional Committees. 

More  significant  than  all,  however,  is  the  number  of  cities  in 
which  local  denominational  young  people's  societies  have  felt  the 
value  of  the  local  union  relations.  This  has  produced  in  a  few 
cases  unions  independent  of  all  national  organizations.  These  have 
really  only  complicated  affairs,  for  such  an  independent  union  is  of 
no  value  to  a  national  denominational  organization  as  it  is  like- 
wise useless  to  a  national  interdenominational  federation.  This 
is  a  loss  to  all  concerned,  for  a  local  or  district  union  is  the  most 
important  wheel  in  a  national  machine,  either  denominational  or 
interdenominational.  Or  again,  some  of  the  local  unions  have  felt 
it  to  be  unfair  to  make  a  new  federation  of  that  kind  on  the  sug- 
gestion of  one  or  two  denominational  societies  when  they  were 
already  party  to  a  Federation  of  numbers  of  Churches  whose  official 
ecclesiastical  bodies  determine  the  directorship.  They  have  felt 
that  it  would  be  like  Oklahoma  asking  for  a  new  Federal  Constitu- 
tion, on  condition  that  henceforth  the  new  nation  be  called  Co- 
lumbia instead  of  the  United  States. 

However,  the  local  desire  for  enlarged  cooperation  and  its  local 
importance  is  upon  us.  I  can  only  add  that  the  United  Society 
of  Christian  Endeavor  has  fostered  this  cause  by  heartily  welcom- 
ing into  the  interdenominational  fellowship  which  it  represents 
numbers  of  societies  with  forms  and  features  widely  different  from 
the  ones  in  most  common  use. 

It  would  trammel  upon  the  ground  of  our  distinguished  speak- 
ers who  follow  further  to  indicate  the  prospects  of  advancing  bar- 


«6  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

mony  among  the  young  save  one  other  remark.  It  is  probable  that 
the  Church  will  more  and  more  see  the  wisdom  of  cooperation  in 
training  the  young  for  service.  Boys  fly  kites  in  China  as  well 
as  here.  The  boy  nature  is  the  same  in  the  Eeformed  Church  as 
in  the  Congregational.  The  great  principles  of  religious  pedagogy 
will  ever  be  the  same  for  all.  Similar  practical  forms  will  be 
used  by  all.  Surely  it  will  be  an  idle  and  sinful  waste  to  have  a 
dozen  clearing-houses  of  information  for  this  great  business  of 
the  Church  when  one  is  quite  suflBcient,  indeed,  more  effective  than 
many. 

In  the  light  of  these  conditions,  therefore,  can  we  make  any 
progress  this  afternoon?  We  can  perhaps  do  nothing  practical  at 
this  hour.  The  situation  is  complicated  in  America  and  condi- 
tions abroad  also  enter  in.  We  all  feel  the  limitations  in  the 
character  of  this  meeting.  For  instance,  I  have  some  impressions 
that  I  feel  it  would  l)e  unfair  or  unwise  to  state  where  we  do 
not  have  the  chance  for  full,  open  discussion.  But  because  of  our 
presence  here  we  shall  all  stand  ready  for  frank  discussion  that 
may  have  fuller  issue.  When  opportunity  for  such  a  discussion 
comes,  we  shall  not  want  to  destroy  hastily  cherished  institutions  or 
honored  organizations,  but  as  young  people  we  are  likely  to  have 
little  interest  in  preserving  machinery  that  stands  in  the  way  of 
more  effective  work. 

And  surely  here  to-day  we  realize  anew  that  "One  is  our  Master, 
even  Christ,  and  all  we  are  brethren." 


THE      POSSIBILITIES      OF      UNITED      CHRISTIAN 
YOUTH 


The  Hon.  James  A.  Beaver 


My  Friends:  As  I  have  been  sitting  from  day  to  day  in  the 
great  Council  held  near  by  in  regard  to  the  Federation  of  the 
Churches  of  America  I  have  been  impressed  more  than  ever  before 
with  the  truth  of  the  adage,  "Old  men  for  counsel  and  young  men 
for  war.'"'  The  counsellors  are  sometimes  a  little  late,  as  I  look  at  it. 
Those  of  us  who  are  now  counselling  for  Federation  should  have 
been  ready  with  our  counsel  a  generation  ago.    The  war  is  on. 


THE  UNION  OF  CHRISTIAN  FORCES  457 

Wars  come  without  counsellors,  sometimes  in  spite  of  them,  and 
without  their  counsel.  We  have  an  illustration  of  this  in  recent 
times.  The  war  of  which  I  speak,  however,  is  not  one  of  nation 
against  nation.  It  is  not  a  war  of  contending  armies  in  the 
physical  sense,  and  yet  the  moral  world  is  in  a  death  grip  and  the 
war  is  to  be  fought  to  a  finish.  Its  weapons  are  not  carnal ;  they 
are  spiritual. 

In  some  way  or  other — we  do  not  know  either  the  why  or  the 
how — in  the  providence  of  God  wars  which  have  devastated  the 
world  and  have  slain  men  by  the  thousands  have  been  His  means 
of  building  up  His  kingdom.  We  do  not  understand  this.  We  can- 
not understand  it.  It  is  beyond  human  ken.  It  would  seem,  in 
the  very  nature  of  the  case,  to  be  impossible,  and  yet  no  man 
who  reads  history  and  understands  what  he  reads  can  fail  to  ap- 
preciate the  truth  of  this  great  fact.  It  is  only  an  illustration  of 
that  greater  fact,  that  God  rules,  not  only  in  the  armies  of 
heaven,  but  in  those  of  the  earth  also. 

The  war  which  has  just  closed  tends  to  illustrate  this  thought 
in  a  measure  which  time  will  not  permit  me  to  follow,  and  yet 
which  it  would  be  very  interesting  to  develop.  There  is  one  truth, 
however,  to  which  I  must  allude,  which  is  the  outgrowth  of  that 
war,  and  which,  to  my  mind,  is  the  greatest  event  resulting  from 
it.  When  Japan  had  won  every  battle  on  land  and  sea  in  which 
her  armies  and  navies  were  engaged,  and  when  she  practically 
had  Russia  in  her  grasp  and  was  ready  to  hurl  her  battalions 
against  the  Eussian  army  in  the  field,  and  the  representatives  of 
both  nations  had  met  on  our  own  shores  and  were  considering  the 
details  of  the  Peace  of  Portsmouth,  the  greatest  triumph  of  the 
whole  war  came,  as  the  cable  flashed  the  message  from  the 
Mikado,  "Give  up  the  demand  for  indemnity."  Greater  is  he  that 
ruleth  his  own  spirit  than  he  that  taketh  a  city! 

In  the  judgment  of  most  military  men,  the  Mikado,  through 
his  successful  commanders  in  the  field,  ready  to  launch  his  army 
against  the  masses  of  Russia,  had  victory  within  his  grasp.  What 
was  it  that  brought  this  message  of  conciliation  from  the  ruler 
of  Japan?  The  spirit  of  war?  No.  The  desire  for  conquest?  No. 
The  thirst  for  triumph?  No.  The  fear  of  defeat?  No.  What 
was  it?  It  was  the  spirit  of  the  missionary  thought  and  effort 
which  for  fifty  years  has  endeavored  to  reach  the  heart  of  Japan. 
It  was  the  spirit  of  the  civilized  world,  as  it  is  voiced  in  Chris- 
tianity, whicth  called  forth  that  message.    I  don't  care  what  the 


458  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

Mikado  professes.  I  don't  care  what  he  believes.  Call  it  statecraft, 
call  it  diplomacy,  call  it  what  you  will,  the  spirit  of  Christianity 
is  voiced  in  that  message  which  brought  peace  once  more  to  a 
warring  world. 

I  said  the  war  was  on — the  war  between  the  great  moral  forces 
of  the  world.  Is  the  great  Captain  to  be  King?  That  is  the 
question.  Is  He  whom  we  worship,  He,  "whom  not  having  seen, 
we  love,  and  in  whom,  though  now  we  see  Him  not,  yet  believing 
we  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable" — is  He,  this  Captain  of  our  sal- 
vation, to  be  the  "King,  to  reign  triumphant  over  all  nations,  over 
all  peoples,  for  all  time,  under  every  sky?  This  is  the  imminent 
question,  and  until  it  is  settled  the  war  in  which  we  are  engaged, 
as  His  soldiers,  can  never  cease. 

We  are  counselling  now  in  this  Conference  in  regard  to  Federa- 
tion— that  is,  as  to  how  we  may  best  mass  the  different  battalions 
of  the  Prince  of  Peace  and  hurl  them  with  the  greatest  force,  with 
a  force  which  cannot  be  resisted,  against  the  masses  of  supersti- 
tion and  idolatry.  It  behooves  us  in  this  war  to  take  advantage  of 
every  force  which  can  be  marshalled  for  the  efl&ciency  of  the  army 
and  for  the  success  of  the  great  cause  ia  which  we  are  engaged. 

Youthful  enthusiasm  is  a  fact.  No  man  who  has  gone  through 
life  needs  to  be  told  that.  He  knows  it.  It  is  a  part  of  his  ex- 
perience. More,  it  is  a  part  of  himself.  It  is  one  of  the  universal 
facts  of  humanity  of  which  we  take  notice  without  proof.  Youth- 
ful enthusiasm,  however,  is  not  only  a  fact,  it  is  a  force.  How  is 
this  impulsive,  dynamic  force  to  be  utilized?  Behind  enthusiasm 
there  must  be  a  motive,  and  that  motive  must  be  worthy;  and  be- 
fore enthusiasm,  as  the  thing  toward  which  it  aims,  there  must 
be  an  object,  and  that  object  must  be  enduring,  sufficient,  satis- 
factory. Then  behind  the  motive  and  the  object  there  must  be 
adequate  means. 

We  had  plenty  of  enthusiasm  yesterday  on  the  college  athletic 
fields.  As  a  college  man  I  would  not  like  to  say  that  the  en- 
thusiasm was  without  a  worthy  motive.  College  spirit,  which  is 
just  another  name  for  love  of  Alma  Mater,  is  worthy  m  a  sense, 
and  athletics  tend  to  the  development  of  college  spirit;  but  yet 
who  would  say  that  the  winning  of  a  football  game  was  an  object 
that  was  either  enduring,  or  sufficient,  or  satisfactory,  when  you 
come  to  deal  with  it  in  cold  blood  and  count  up  its  cost  ?  I  suppose 
there  are  a  great  many  others  who  would  enjoy  it  besides  the  par- 
ticipants— enjoy  the   exhilaration   of  it,   enjoy  the   contest  for 


SUPREME  LOVE  TO  CHRIST  458 

mastery,  enjoy  the  supreme  conflict  between  the  giant  forcee 
which  come  together  on  such  a  field.  All  these  things  beget  en- 
thusiasm and  tend  to  a  concentration  of  interest  in  the  institu- 
tions for  which  the  several  teams  stand ;  and  yet  when  we  sit  down 
in  the  evening,  sum  up  the  results  and  count  the  cost,  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  we  would  consider  the  object — the  winning  of  a  game 
— either  satisfactory  or  enduring. 

Patriotism  is  a  motive  not  to  be  despised.  The  love  of  country 
is  sometimes  a  supreme  motive  which  draws  men  and  tries  men 
to  the  utmost.  It  carries  many  to  war,  and  although  wars  seem 
to  be  at  times  necessary,  no  man  who  has  gone  through  their  ex- 
periences and  knows  what  is  involved  in  war  will  sit  down  at  the 
end  and  count  the  object  either  as  satisfactory  or  sufficiently  en- 
during to  warrant  the  cost,  particularly  when,  as  is  generally  the 
case,  reasonable  discussion  and  interchange  of  opinion  and  mutual 
concession  might  have  avoided  it. 

We  must  have  some  higher  motive  than  either  college  spirit  or 
patriotism.  We  must  have  some  more  sufficient  and  satisfactory 
object  to  enlist  us  than  the  winning  of  a  game  or  a  victory  in 
war  if  at  the  close  of  the  fight  we  are  to  sit  down  and  say,  in 
view  of  all  the  facts  and  in  view  of  the  tremendous  cost:  "This 
is  satisfying,  this  is  sufficient,  this  will  endure." 

We  have  in  the  present  day,  controlled  more  or  less  directly  by 
our  Churches,  several  organizations  of  young  people,  through 
which  the  enthusiasm  of  youth  is  sought  to  be  utilized  for  the  at- 
tainment of  the  objects  at  which  they  aim.  I  shall  only  speak  of 
two  or  three  of  them,  as  being  representative  of  all. 

The  first  is  the  one  represented  by  the  gentleman  who  presides 
at  this  meeting — the  Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  En- 
deavor. More  than  anything  else  perhaps  the  object  of  this  so- 
ciety is  to  develop  the  Christ-life  in  the  individual.  Their  pledge 
involves  loyalty  to  the  Church  of  Christ  and  to  the  individual 
church  which  is  the  choice  of  its  members,  and,  through  the  use 
of  the  appointed  means  which  each  Church  employs  toward  this 
great  end,  there  is  to  come,  or  at  least  there  is  in  view,  a  satisfy- 
ing and  enduring  object — the  Christ-life  built  up  in  the  individual 
soul.  We  have  here  both  the  motive  and  the  object;  and,  within 
reasonable  limits,  this  society  has  within  itself  adequate  means  for 
the  development  of  the  motive  and  the  attainment  of  the  object. 

Then  there  is  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the 
death  of  whose  founder  is  to  be  observed  in  memorial  services  in 


4G0  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

this  city  this  evening.  Whilst  the  original  purposes  of  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  may  have  been — and  I  think  it  soon  outran  the  purpose  of 
its  founder — narrower  than  at  present,  its  recognized  object  now 
is  to  make  Him  who  is  the  recognized  Saviour  of  each  of  its  mem- 
bers the  Universal  King.  This  association,  through  its  various 
departments,  is  endeavoring  to  reach  the  entire  world  and  win  it 
to  Christ.  Through  its  student  movement,  compacted  by  a  world 
federation,  it  is  endeavoring  to  seize  the  strategic  points,  namely, 
our  institutions  of  learning,  for  the  conquest  of  the  world;  and 
it  will  be  readily  seen  that  if  the  institutions  of  learning  of  all  the 
countries  of  the  world  can  be  completely  won  for  Christ  the  final 
success  of  the  campaign  is  not  far  distant.  Here  we  have  youthful 
enthusiasm,  prompted  by  the  highest  motive  possible,  directed 
toward  a  sublime  object,  fully  equipped  for  work  and  lacking 
only  in  the  adequate  means  necessary  to  insure  success. 

We  have  another  young  people's  organization,  called  the  Stu- 
dent Volunteer  Movement,  whose  motto  is  "The  evangelization  of 
the  world  in  this  generation."  Of  this  movement  I  trust  we  shall 
hear  more  when  the  Volunteer  who  is  to  follow  me  shall  speak 
of  it. 

Now,  the  motive  of  the  young  people  who  are  banded  together 
in  these  organizations  is  what  ?  Supreme  love  to  Christ.  Is  that 
a  worthy  motive  ?  Do  you  know  anything  more  worthy  ?  Do  you 
know  anything  more  uplifting  in  character  and  tendency  ?  Do  you 
know  anything  which,  when  it  dominates  the  life,  leads  to  more 
perfect  surrender  to  His  behests  and  His  commands,  all  of  which 
are  for  the  good  of  men  and  for  the  uplift  of  our  kind  ?  And  out 
of  this  supreme  love,  directed  toward  a  definite  object,  comes  the 
service  which  the  young  people,  acting  through  these  varied  or- 
ganizations, render;  and  that  definite  object  toward  which  they 
aim,  with  more  or  less  of  definite  thought  and  definite  effort,  is 
obedience  to  the  last  command  of  our  Lord,  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 

I  said  at  the  outset  that  the  counsellors  were  sometimes  a 
little  late,  and  that  the  war  was  sometimes  on  in  spite  of  their 
counsel  and  without  their  consent.  That  is  just  what  I  have  in 
mind  when  I  think  of  the  Conference  which  has  been  held  for  two 
or  three  days,  and  is  to  be  held  for  a  couple  of  days  longer,  in 
Carnegie  Hall.  The  Student  Volunteer  Movement  alone  has  some 
three  thousand  men  on  the  firing  line  in  the  great  war  in  which 
the  moral  forces  of  the  world  are  arrayed  against  each  other  for 


VALVE   AND    POWER   OF   YOUTHFUL  ENTHUSIASM       4t)l 

a  fight  to  the  finish,  and  now  we  older  people — we  who  counsel 
and  who  pretend  to  furnish  the  means  necessary  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  definite  object  toward  which  Christ  and  His  dis- 
ciples and  all  who  profess  to  follow  Him  have  been  engaged  since 
the  day  that  He  came — we,  His  followers,  who  ought  to  furnish 
what  is  required  for  the  help  of  the  men  who  are  on  the  firing 
line,  are  just  beginning  to  touch  elbows  and  get  ready  to  move  to 
their  support. 

I  told  you  that  the  utilization  of  the  enthusiasm  of  youth  is 
the  aim  of  the  conservatism  of  age,  and  yet  we  are  just  beginning 
to  realize  what  this  youthful  enthusiasm  means;  and  it  is  a  dawn- 
ing realization  of  its  importance,  its  value  and  its  power  which 
brings  these  Churches  together  for  conference  as  to  the  best  means 
and  methods  for  federating,  for  touching  elbows,  for  forming  the 
line  that  is  to  reinforce  this  great  skirmish  line  of  young  people 
which  encircles  the  world  and  has  its  representatives  in  every 
clime.  When  the  time  comes  that,  between  the  motive  which  in- 
spires and  the  object  which  attracts  the  youthful  enthusiasm  al- 
ready organized  for  aggressive  action,  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
shall  furnish  adequate  means  for  reaching  the  definite  object 
which  these  young  people  have  in  view,  its  accomplishment  will  be 
absolutely  certain. 

If  the  Federation  of  the  Churches  of  this  country  was  as  close 
as  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement,  and  if,  coincident  with  that 
movement,  the  Churches  had  banded  together  and  pledged  their 
support  to  it,  I  verily  believe  that  instead  of  three  thousand  we 
would  have  six  thousand  men  on  the  firing  line,  endeavoring  to 
win  the  world  to  Jesus  Christ.  No  man  who  has  given  thought 
to  the  subject,  and  who  desires  in  his  heart  the  success  of  the  ob- 
ject which  these  young  men,  and  young  women,  too,  have  in  view, 
will  doubt  that  their  great  motto — "the  evangelization  of  the 
world  in  this  generation" — is  not  only  a  possible  but  a  perfectly 
practical  thing,  and  a  thing  which  can  be  certainly  attained,  if  we, 
as  custodians  of  the  wealth  which  God  has  given  into  our  hands, 
through  the  Churches  which  are  only  now  counselling  about  con- 
federating together  for  the  conquest  of  the  world,  will  do  our  in- 
dividual duty  toward  bringing  adequate  means  to  the  attainment 
of  this  sufficient,  satisfactory  and  enduring  result. 

There  is  an  old  story  told  of  a  color-bearer  in  our  army  during 
the  Civil  War.  I  do  not  say  it  is  true.  It  is  perhaps  unmOitary. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  it  could  have  occurred,  if  the  commander 


462  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

of  the  regiment  had  been  equal  to  the  responsibility  and  the  duty 
which  devolved  upon  him;  but  the  story  is  told,  nevertheless,  and 
it  is  applicable  here.  Here  is  this  firing  line  around  the  world. 
The  ammunition  is  practically  exhausted,  and  we  are  moving  to 
the  support  of  the  men  at  the  front — that  is,  we  say  we  are  mov- 
ing; we  are  getting  ready  to  move;  we  are  federating,  in  order 
that  we  can  move.  Now,  it  is  said  that  during  one  of  the  battles 
of  our  great  Civil  War  a  young  color-bearer,  with  enthusiastic 
mien  and  glowing  cheeks  and  firm  and  elastic  step,  moved  out 
before  the  advancing  line  of  his  regiment,  and  as  his  enthusiasm 
spurred  him  on  and  he  saw  perhaps  better  than  his  colonel  the  ad- 
vantages that  were  to  be  gained  by  a  forward  movement,  rushed 
forward.  The  colonel,  either  not  seeing  what  he  saw,  or  being  un- 
willing for  the  time  to  advance  his  line,  called  out  to  the  color- 
bearer:  "Sergeant,  bring  the  colors  back  to  the  line!"  The  ser- 
geant, regardless  of  military  discipline  and  of  all  that  is  implied 
in  it,  with  his  blood  aflame  and  his  eyes  flashing,  looked  back  and 
said:   "Colonel,  bring  the  line  up  to  the  colors," 

This  is  the  message  which  comes  to  us  from  the  men  who  are 
carrying  the  blood-stained  banner  of  the  Cross  far  to  the  front. 
This  is  the  message  from  the  young  men  and  women  who  are  en- 
gaged, with  the  enthusiasm  of  youth,  upon  the  firing  line,  where 
they  are  giving  their  lives,  not  only  in  a  figurative  but  in  the  real 
sense,  and  shedding  their  blood  for  the  cause  to  which  they  have 
devoted  their  lives.  The  message  is :  "Churches  of  America,  bring 
the  line  up  to  the  colors !  The  men  on  the  firing  line  are  out  of 
ammunition  and  they  need  you ;  you  have  means ;  you  can  furnish 
it  for  their  help.   Will  you  do  so  ?" 

When  the  Church  responds  to  that  appeal  there  will  be 
brought  to  pass  the  motive  and  the  means,  as  well  as  the  object, 
in  a  glorious  combination,  until  He  comes  whose  right  it  is  to 
reign. 


THE     EVANGELIZATION     OF    THE     WORLD     THE 
GREAT   UNIFYING  CONCEPTION 

Mr.  J.  Campbell  White 


"Discover  your  o\mi  sins  and  then  boldly  charge  them  upon 
your  hearers/'  was  the  advice  given  by  an  experienced  pastor  to 
a  young  man  just  taking  up  the  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry.  It 
was  wise  counsel,  for  there  is  a  peculiar  solidarity  about  the 
human  race,  and  when  we  discover  weakness  in  ourselves  we 
may  be  pretty  sure  that  a  great  many  other  people  are  having 
the  same  experiences.  When  one  speaks,  therefore,  out  of  his 
own  experience  he  is  most  likely  to  touch  chords  of  sympathy  in 
many  another  life.  A  day  or  two  ago  one  of  the  speakers  in  this 
Federation  Conference  referred  to  the  striking  message  which 
Helen  Keller  wrote  out  slowly  word  by  word  when  she  first  met 
Phillips  Brooks:  "Please  tell  me  something  that  you  know  about 
God."  We  do  not  in  our  day  care  to  hear  theories.  We  wish 
to  hear  what  people  know. 

As  I  was  trying  prayerfully  to  decide  on  a  line  of  utterance 
which  might  be  suggestive  on  this  occasion,  it  seemed  to  me  as 
I  looked  back  over  the  development  of  my  own  missionary  interest, 
that  I  could  see  very  clearly  that  it  had  exercised  a  most  power- 
ful effect  in  leading  me  into  larger  sympathy  with  all  Churches, 
until  now  all  spirit  of  denominationalism  has  been  forever  ex- 
pelled from  my  nature. 

My  thought  this  afternoon  is  briefly  to  trace  some  of  the  steps 
of  that  development.  I  can  remember  my  father  telling  how  in 
his  young  manhood  members  of  the  Church  were  charged  not 
to  be  guilty  of  Avhat  was  called  "occasional  hearing."  When  the 
pastor  of  the  church  was  away  some  of  the  more  reckless  members 
would  go  to  hear  the  pastor  of  another  denomination  preach,  and 
that  was  accounted  almost  a  crime.  It  was  called  "occasional 
hearing,"  and  it  was  one  of  the  sins  that  my  father  used  to  hear 
preached  against  in  his  younger  days.  I  remember  very  well 
when  I  started  to  college  that  I  thought  the  Presbyterian  Church 
was  about  the  only  Church  worth  belonging  to  and  the  only  one 
that  the  Lord  could  rely  on  for  winning  the  world  to  Himself. 
But  after  I  had  been  to  college  two  or  three  years  I  was  sent  as 
a  delegate  to  Northfield,  in  1888,  and  there  I  first  met  Mr.  Moody 
and  a  great  gathering  of  the  flower  of  the  Christian  youth  of  this 

463 


464  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

land  in  a  ten  days'  meeting  for  the  study  of  the  Bible.  Before  I 
got  through  that  conference  I  thought  the  Methodists,  Baptists, 
and  others  all  had  some  very  fine  representatives.  Then  when  I 
left  college  I  was  asked  by  the  International  Committee  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  to  travel  among  the  colleges 
of  this  country.  I  did  this  for  two  years,  during  which  time  I 
visited  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  colleges,  of  all  denominations, 
throughout  the  central  and  southern  part  of  the  United  States, 
appealing  to  the  young  men  to  give  the  best  of  their  life  to 
Christ.  It  was  impossible  for  me  to  go  through  an  experience 
like  that  without  finding  in  every  denomination  men  as  Christ- 
like as  were  to  be  found  in  any  other,  and  it  was  impossible 
for  me  to  feel  that  there  would  be  any  serious  barriers  set  up 
between  Christians  if  only  they  could  understand  and  know  each 
other.  The  thing  that  has  swept  all  denominational  prejudice  out 
of  my  mind  has  been  simple  contact  with  people  of  all  Churches. 
I  am  persuaded  that  if  we  had  met  together  twenty-five  or  fifty 
years  ago  in  such  Conferences  as  this  it  would  have  so  greatly 
advanced  our  knowledge  of  each  other  that  it  would  have  been 
impossible  for  us  to  believe  that  any  Christian  Church  was  not 
sufficiently  in  sympathy  with  Christ  to  represent  Him  and  carry 
His  Gospel  to  any  neglected  portion  of  this  world. 

After  two  or  three  years  of  this  kind  of  work  I  went  out 
as  secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  to  Cal- 
cutta, India,  and  for  ten  years  it  w^as  my  privilege  to  work  there 
face  to  face  with  Hindoos,  Mohammedans,  Buddhists  and  pagans. 
No  missionary  can  long  work  under  conditions  prevailing  in  all 
non-Christian  lands  without  feeling  that  all  the  waste  of  effort, 
and  the  waste  of  money,  in  competing  one  Church  against  another 
is  a  crime  when  the  world  is  to  be  won.  Here  is  a  picture  of  Hin- 
dooism.  The  idea  of  the  picture  is  to  show  that  the  cow  is  the 
most  sacred  thing  in  all  the  world.  Any  Hindoo  will  tell  you 
that  they  have  330  millions  of  different  gods.  A  Hindoo  may 
have  a  different  god  for  every  day  in  the  year,  and  if  he  lived 
thousands  of  years  he  would  not  be  able  to  worship  them  all. 
And  yet  these  people  have  no  conception  of  the  character  of  God. 
Why,  the  record  of  some  of  their  gods  it  is  impossible  to  trans- 
late into  the  English  language.  One  who  would  do  it  would  be 
prosecuted  for  publishing  obscene  literature!  A  while  ago  in 
Bombay  a  man  was  arrested  for  daring  to  translate  and  publish 
some  of  these  vile  sections  describing  some  of  the  gods  that  the 


TEE  CALL  FOR  UNITED  EFFORT  IN  THE  FOREIGN  FIELD  466 

Hindoos  worship.  Here  is  a  symbol  of  Buddhism,  a  praying-ma- 
chine !  (Here  the  speaker  exhibited  a  little  box-like  cylinder  with 
a  handle  which  operated  to  turn  a  wheel  holding  a  coil  of  ribbon- 
like  paper  on  the  inside.) 

Their  conception  of  prayer  is  that  it  is  a  kind  of  work,  and 
that  the  value  of  prayer  depends  on  the  number  of  prayers  of- 
fered. On  the  coil  of  paper  on  the  inside  of  this  box  a  prayer 
is  printed  over  and  over  hundreds  of  times,  and  as  the  person 
using  it  turns  this  handle  the  prayers  are  supposed  to  be  repeated 
again  and  again.  I  bought  this  wheel  from  a  Buddhist  priest,  as 
he  was  walking  along  talking  to  his  friend  and  smoking  liis  pipe, 
and  indastriously  engaged  in  turning  the  handle  of  this  little 
box  and  saying  his  prayers !  They  sometimes  make  these  praying- 
machines  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  this,  many  of  them  as  large 
as  a  barrel,  and  fill  them  up  with  printed  prayers.  They  have  an 
ingenious  uiechanism  by  which  they  can  be  located  alongside  of 
a  mountain  stream,  fitted  up  with  a  water-wheel,  and  can  be 
worked  without  human  effort  at  all.  This  is  prayer  by  the  bar- 
rel, by  means  of  water  power!  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  my  little 
four-year-old  baby  girl,  who  kneels  at  her  mother's  knee  and 
speaks  to  God,  has  a  far  better  idea  of  what  prayer  is  in  its 
essence  than  the  old  gray-headed  grandmothers  and  gi-andfathers 
of  India  and  Africa  and  China  who  do  not  yet  know  how  to  pray! 
Is  it  not  a  strange  thing  that  when  you  and  I  do  know  how  to 
pray,  we  should  pray  that  our  Church  should  succeed  and 
that  the  other  Church  should  fail  ?  Practically  that  is  what  we 
are  doing  in  many  cases,  instead  of  praying,  "Thy  Kingdom  come. 
Thy  will  be  done,"  unto  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth.  The  harvest 
truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are  few. 

I  was  up  in  the  Soudan  two  years  ago  visiting  our  last  opened 
station  at  Khartoum,  and  I  brought  home  with  me  a  lady's  com- 
plete outfit,  which  I  have  here  to  show  you. 

(Exhibiting  short  skirt  about  six  inches  in  length.) 

There  are  many  that  do  not  wear  as  much  as  this,  but  I 
could  not  bring  a  smaller  one  and  yet  have  anything  at  all  to 
show! 

One  cannot  look  very  long  at  a  symbol  of  barbarism  like 
this  without  getting  some  idea  of  the  awful  conditions  prevailing 
among  tens  of  millions  of  mankind  yonder.  Suppose  your  sister 
were  living  there  wearing  a  dress  like  that,  and  you  Icnew  that 
the  only  way  of  changing  the  moral,  intellectual  and  spiritual  con- 


466  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

dition  of  your  sister  was  by  doing  more  than  you  are  now  doing 
to  carry  the  Gospel  to  her,  do  you  think  you  would  compete  with 
any  other  Church  in  order  to  occupy  the  field  they  were 
willing  to  occupy,  and  leave  these  fields  in  which  your  own  flesh 
and  blood  was  perishing?  From  Khartoum  I  brought  also  a 
symbol  of  Mohammedanism,  It  is  a  slave  driver's  whip  made  out 
of  a  single  thickness  of  hippopotamus-hide  which  is  more  tbaa 
an  inch  thick. 

(Exhibiting  whip.) 

Mohammedanism  stands  for  slavery,  and  has  done  so  from  the 
beginning.  Mohammed  permitted  his  followers  to  have  four 
wives  apiece,  to  change  them  as  often  as  they  liked,  and  they 
might  also  have  an  unlimited  number  of  female  slaves.  To  sat- 
isfy this  insatiable  lust,  the  Mohammedans  have  devastated  whole 
communities,  killing  many  more  than  they  captured,  and  carrying 
off  their  captives.  When  David  Livingstone  and  "Chinese"  Gor- 
don went  into  the  heart  of  Africa  they  estimated  that  at  least 
500,000  slaves  were  being  carried  out  of  the  country  every  year 
and  that  about  three  were  being  slaughtered  to. every  one  who 
was  captured.  And  that  had  been  going  on  for  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years !  I  suppose  there  is  no  other  portion  of  the  earth's 
surface  so  literally  soaked  with  human  blood  as  Central  Africa,  on 
account  of  the  cruelties  of  this  slave  traffic.  It  was  only  half  a 
dozen  years  ago  that  Lord  Kitchener  with  his  British  and  Egyp- 
tian army  went  up  into  that  country  and  forever  put  an  end 
to  organized  slavery  there,  but  the  man  who  was  at  the  head  of 
the  Mohammedan  forces  at  that  time  had  only  a  little  while  be- 
fore captured  a  man  that  he  thought  had  some  money,  and  in 
order  to  get  him  to  confess  where  it  was  concealed,  ordered  a 
thousand  strokes  with  a  whip  like  this  to  be  laid  upon  his  bared 
back.  The  man  would  not  reveal  where  he  had  hidden  his  wealth, 
and  the  next  day  he  was  subjected  to  another  thousand  strokes 
from  the  whip,  and  the  tliird  day,  another  thousand  still.  The 
only  Christian  in  the  Soudan  at  the  time  was  a  European  army 
officer  who  had  been  captured  ten  years  before,  and,  seeing  the 
outrageous  treatment  to  which  this  man  was  being  subjected,  he 
went  personally  into  the  presence  of  the  Khalifa  and  begged  the 
privilege  of  ministering  to  the  sufferings  of  this  poor  barbarian 
brother.  The  Khalifa  saw  an  opportunity  of  humiliating  this 
European,  and  he  said  that  he  would  grant  the  privilege  on  one 
condition.    Wliat  do  you  suppose  it  was?    It  is  recognized  all  over 


GIVING  TO  ADVANCE  THE  CAUSE  OF  MISSIONS  467 

the  heart  of  Africa  as  the  most  abject  humiliation  to  which  a 
man  can  be  subjected.  The  Khalifa  said  that  if  he  would  pros- 
trate himself  on  his  face  at  his  feet  he  would  grant  the  request. 
Would  you  have  done  it  ?  This  officer  instantly  fell  on  Ms  face  at 
the  feet  of  this  monster  that  he  might  gain  the  privilege  of  min- 
istering to  his  poor  barbarian  brother,  but  his  ministrations  were 
of  little  avail,  for  the  poor  fellow  soon  died,  never  revealing  the 
place  of  his  treasure.  This  may  well  illustrate  both  the  merciless 
cruelty  of  Mohammedanism  and  the  spirit  of  brotherhood,  of 
sympathy,  and  willingness  to  sacrifice  that  ought  to  prevail  among 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  everywhere. 

I  sat  in  a  church  which  belongs  to  one  of  the  Presbyterian 
branches  less  than  ten  days  ago,  where  they  were  discussing  Home 
Missionary  work  for  an  entire  evening,  and  the  enthusiasm  ran 
high.  One  man  who  represented  the  aggressive  Home  Missionary 
work  said,  "Here  is  an  emergency  of  opportunity,"  and  to  illus- 
trate his  point  he  remarked  that  over  in  a  certain  town  there  was 
a  large  section  where  the  people  were  without  a  church,  and  he 
said,  ''We  have  found  out  that  another  denomination  is  thinking  of 
planting  a  church  there.  They  have  said  that  unless  we  organize  a 
church  there  at  once,  they  will  do  it  themselves."  That  was  the 
tremendous  opportunity,  the  emergency  that  threatened !  I  was 
afterward  to  speak,  and  I  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  I  knew 
of  a  district  where  there  were  millions  of  people  who  needed  sal- 
vation, who  needed  missionaries,  and  nobody  was  working  for 
them,  and  nobody  w^as  thinking  of  building  a  church  for  them, 
and  I  said,  "Here  is  a  real  emergency  of  opportunity!  It  is  not 
a  question  of  whether  you  are  going  to  occupy  it,  or  some  other 
Church  is  going  to  occupy  it,  but  the  question  is,  will  you  allow 
the  devil  to  continue  to  occupy  it  and  keep  these  multitudes  in 
bondage  for  time  and  eternity?" 

I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  single  one  of  our  Christian  denomi- 
nations that  has  not  sins  of  waste  to  confess  in  the  presence  of 
Almighty  God.  And  I  do  not  believe  it  would  be  possible  for 
the  most  conservative  of  them  to  go  through  the  experiences  I 
have  gone  through,  in  facing  different  bodies  of  Christians  in 
this  land,  and  then  in  coming  face  to  face  with  the  awful  degrada- 
tion of  heathenism  that  exists  in  other  lands,  without  realizing 
that  God  is  calling  his  whole  army  to  an  Advance  Movement 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  I  am  a  United  Presbyterian 
myself,  but  I  am  not  interested  in  United  Presbyterianizing  the 


468  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

world.  I  am  tremendously  interested  in  evangelizing  the  world! 
I  believe  it  is  a  crime  to  waste  money  and  to  waste  workers  in 
competing  with  each  other  when  half  the  world  waits  on  the 
first  messenger  of  Jesus  Christ!  The  question  that  ought  to  be 
paramount  in  the  minds  of  younger  people  and  older  people,  too, 
ought  to  be  this:  How  can  I  contribute  most  largely  to  the  car- 
rying out  of  the  great  commanding  purpose  of  my  Lord?  How 
can  I  help  Him  to  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  be  satisfied? 
If  I  am  one  with  Him,  my  purposes  must  coincide  with  His,  and 
His  prayer,  put  into  modem  language,  is  that  the  Church  mat 

BE  ONE  IN  ORDER  THAT  THE  WORLD  MAY  BE  WON  !      We  shall  Uever 

win  the  world  without  we  are  one  ourselves.  I  look  with  great 
hope  on  a  Conference  such  as  is  now  being  held  in  this  city.  It 
seems  to  me  to  be  the  beginning  of  the  answer  to  the  prayer  of 
our  Lord.  If  we  once  go  into  this  fight  and  see  how  much  needs 
to  be  done,  we  shall  be  unwilling  to  waste  money  in  any  direc- 
tion, either  in  erecting  unnecessarily  fine  buildings  for  church 
purposes,  or  spending  money  extravagantly  for  any  purpose.  For 
every  two  dollars  invested  in  foreign  missions  means  that  another 
heathen  soul  somewhere  in  the  world  will  have  an  opportunity 
given  him  to  know  the  Lord.  There  are  25,000  districts  in  this 
world  each  containing  25,000  heathen  that  are  not  occupied  at  all 
by  Christian  missionaries  of  any  denomination,  and  this  means 
that  there  are  625,000,000  of  people  who  are  beyond  the  reach  of 
all  Christian  effort!  Is  not  such  a  condition  of  affairs  worthy  of 
even  large  sacrifices  that  the  Gospel  may  be  published?  I  think 
I  never  had  $10  put  into  my  hands  that  was  so  hard  to  spend 
i\&  $10  that  was  sent  to  us  while  I  was  out  in  Calcutta  by  an  old 
lady  named  Margaretta  Moses,  out  near  Chicago.  She  had  sent 
$25  the  year  before,  and  we  were  so  unaccustomed  to  getting  a 
gift  of  $25  from  any  one  that  we  did  not  know,  but  we  supposed 
she  was  a  rich  lady,  and  could  easily  give  us  another  $25  the 
next  year.  So  we  wrote  to  her,  telling  of  the  needs  of  our  work 
and  hoping  that  she  would  be  able  to  renew  the  subscription  of 
the  year  before.  In  her  reply  she  said :  'TTou  are  evidently  mis- 
taken about  my  position.  I  am  only  a  poor  old  woman,  without 
anything  in  the  world  except  what  I  make  by  baking  pies  and 
cakes  and  selling  them  around  on  the  street,  and  the  $25  that 
I  sent  you  a  year  ago  represented  the  savings  of  years.  I  have 
not  very  much  to  send  now;  I  only  have  $10  that  I  can  pos- 
sibly command,  but  1  am  glad  to  send  that.    I  wish  I  could  send 


SACRIFICE    IN    GIVING  469 

$100,  but  I  will  pray  that  others  who  are  more  able  will  do  so." 
It  was  not  easy  to  spend  that  money !  It  wasn't  very  many  weeks 
before  we  heard  that  Margaretta  Moses  had  to  give  up  baking 
pies  and  cakes  for  the  Lord  and  go  to  an  old  lady's  home  to  spend 
her  closing  days;  and  not  long  afterwards  we  received  another 
message  stating  that  she  had  been  called  to  the  eternal  mansions. 
Tell  me,  do  you  have  any  idea  that  Margaretta  Moses  regrets  to- 
day that  she  made  real  sacrifices  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ? 

I  was  speaking  in  one  of  our  churches  in  Chicago  a  few  weeks 
ago,  and  in  front  of  me  there  sat  an  old  lady  whose  smile  as  I 
spoke  was  an  inspiration,  and  as  I  walked  home  with  the  pastor 
after  the  service  I  asked  him  who  she  was.  He  said:  "She  is 
a  widow  lady  nearly  seventy-five  years  old,  and  is  very,  very 
poor.  She  ought  not  to  try  to  walk  to  church  because  it  is  nearly 
a  mile  from  her  home,  and  she  generally  does  come  on  the  street 
cars,  but  I  have  known  her  time  and  again  when  she  had  only 
five  cents  in  her  possession  to  walk  to  church  and  home  again  in 
order  to  have  the  five  cents  to  give  to  the  Lord."  He  also  said 
to  me:  "A  few  weeks  ago  a  man  handed  me  a  dollar  to  give  to 
somebody  who  was  needy,  and  I  didn't  know  any  one  who  needed 
it  more  than  this  old  lady,  and  so  I  sent  it  to  her.  The  next 
Sabbath  she  brought  the  whole  dollar  in  a  Thank  Offering  En- 
velope and  put  it  into  the  basket  as  her  gift  of  love  and  gratitude 
to  Christ."  There  are  some  widows  in  the  world  who  will  have 
a  place  alongside  of  the  widow  of  old  of  whom  the  Lord  said: 
**She  hath  given  more  than  they  all.    She  hath  given  all" 

I  was  riding  with  a  Baptist  minister  from  Cleveland  not  long 
ago,  and  he  said  to  me :  "The  most  generous  person  in  my  congre- 
gation is  an  old  colored  woman  who  was  bom  a  slave,  and  who 
can't  read  a  word,  and  she  hasn't  a  penny  that  she  doesn't  earn 
over  the  washtub.  Yet  she  gives  $50  to  foreign  missions  every 
year,  besides  giving  to  other  purposes.  I  went  to  her  a  while  ago 
and  protested  against  her  giving  so  much,  and  she  said,  *You  don't 
seem  to  understand  that  I  get  the  very  joy  of  my  life  out  of  this 
serving  of  my  Master.  I  couldn't  spend  this  money  for  anything 
else  that  would  bring  me  half  the  pleasure.  When  I  am  work- 
ing over  the  washtub,  and  the  drops  of  sweat  fall  down  off  my 
brow  into  the  soap-suds  before  me,  the  sweat-drops  suggest  to 
me  the  Jewels  I  am  laying  up  in  heaven  by  this  humble  service  I 
am  able  to  render." 


470  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

I  wonder  how  many  of  us  are  doing  anything  that  is  so  precious 
to  Him  as  the  loving  sacrifice  of  the  old  ex-slave ! 

Somebody  sent  two  dollars  last  year  to  support  a  missionary  in 
Africa,  which  resulted  in  a  girl  sixteen  years  old  being  rescued 
and  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  Christ.  The  people  at  that  mis- 
sion are  all  very  poor,  yet  at  Christmas  time  they  give  their  best 
to  Christ.  They  come  into  the  House  of  God  and  join  in  the 
service  of  praise  and  prayer,  and  then  at  the  close  of  the  meeting 
they  come  up  and  hand  to  the  minister  their  gifts.  They  do  not 
have  much,  if  any,  money;  occasionally  one  will  bring  up  a  coin 
worth  a  penny  or  two,  but  most  of  them  will  bring  vegetables,  and 
some  merely  a  bunch  of  flowers  to  show  their  desire  to  give  some- 
thing to  the  Lord.  This  girl  came  in  with  the  rest  and  handed 
to  the  missionary  a  silver  coin  worth  eighty-five  cents.  The  mis- 
sionary was  so  amazed  at  the  size  of  the  offering  that  he  felt 
sure  she  must  have  stolen  it.  He  called  her  aside  and  asked  her 
where  she  got  it,  and  he  ascertained  that  she  had  gone  to  a  neigh- 
boring planter  and  bound  herself  out  as  a  slave  for  the  rest  of 
her  life  for  that  eighty-five  cents,  and  had  brought  it  and  laid 
it  down  in  a  single  gift  at  the  feet  of  her  Lord,  the  entire  finan- 
cial equivalent  of  her  life  of  pledged  service ! 

I  am  glad  to  have  a  Gospel  to  believe  and  to  recommend  to 
others  that  is  capable  of  doing  that  for  a  heathen!  And,  while 
I  do  not  recommend  to  any  of  you  that  you  bind  yourselves  in 
slavery  to  any  man,  I  believe  that  for  Christ's  sake  we  all  ought 
to  make  sacrifices,  and  I  ask  myself  this  afternoon,  as  I  ask  you: 
Is  there  any  higher  use  you  and  I  can  make  of  our  lives  than 
to  bind  ourselves  in  perpetual  slavery  to  Jesus  Christ,  for  lost 
humanity's  sake,  and  to  say  to  Him:  'li  God  will  show  me  any- 
thing that  I  can  do  for  the  redemption  of  the  world  that  I  have 
not  yet  done,  by  His  help  I  wiQ  undertake  it  at  once,  for  I  can- 
not, I  dare  not,  go  up  to  judgment  until  I  have  done  the  utmost 
God  enables  me  to  do  to  diffuse  His  glory  throughout  the  whole 
world." 

I  said,  Let  me  walk  in  the  field ; 

He  said,  Nay,  walk  in  the  town. 
I  said,  There  are  no  flowers  there; 

He  said,  No  flowers,  but  a  crown. 

I  said.  But  the  skies  are  black, 
There  is  nothing  but  noise  and  din ; 

But  He  wept  as  He  sent  me  back. 
There  is  more,  He  said,  there  is  sin. 


LIFE    HID    IN    CHRIST  47^ 

I  said.  But  the  air  is  thick, 

And  the  fogs  are  veiling  the  sun; 
He  answered,  Yet  souls  are  sick, 
And  souls  in  the  dark  undone. 
I  said,  I  shall  miss  the  light, 

And  friends  will  miss  me,  they  say; 
He  answered  me,  Choose  to-night, 

If  I  am  to  miss  you,  or  they. 
I  pleaded  for  time  to  be  given ; 

He  said.  Is  it  hard  to  decide? 
It  will  not  seem  hard  in  heaven 

To  have  followed  the  steps  of  your  guide. 
I  cast  one  look  at  the  field, 

Then  set  my  face  to  the  town. 
He  said,  My  child,  do  you  yield? 

Will  you  leave  the  flowers  for  the  crown? 
Then  into  His  hand  went  mine, 

And  into  my  heart  came  He. 
And  I  walk  in  a  light  divine, 
The  path  I  had  feared  to  see. 


WHAT  PRACTICAL  RESULTS  MAY  BE  EX- 
PECTED PROM  THIS  CONFERENCE? 


ADDRESS  BY  THE   CHAIRMAN    OF   THE   CONFER- 
ENCE SESSION. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  A.  W.  Wilson,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


I  will  say  very  briefly  that  I  do  not  come  here  simply  to  rep- 
resent myself.  If  I  were  not  certain  that  back  of  me  lay  a  great 
body  of  loyal  Methodists,  true  to  their  own  Church,  who  are  just 
as  true  to  this  principle  of  Federation  and  fraternity  with  all  the 
Churches  of  Christ,  I  should  not  be  here.  I  stand  as  a  representa- 
tive of  them,  as  I  am  sure  my  colleague  in  my  work  and  repre- 
sentative of  the  same  Church,  Bishop  Hendrix,  will  testify. 

I  want  to  say  once  more  that  this  movement  has  been  deepening 
and  growing  through  the  years  past.  I  believe  that  Methodism — 
excuse  me  if  it  is  a  little  egotistic — I  believe  that  Methodism  is  a 
little  more  fraternal  and  a  little  freer  than  almost  any  other  de- 
nomination. We  have  no  barriers  to  cut  us  off  from  anybody  else 
that  believes  in  Jesus  Christ;  anybody  can  come  in  that  has  that 
fundamental  faith;  and  we  have  been  cultivating  it,  not  simply  in 
a  formal  way,  but  as  a  matter  of  spirit,  for  years  past,  and  we 
have  come  to  this  Conference,  not  simply  to  give  voice  to  a  formal 
statement  of  our  relations  to  the  great  visible  body  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  but  to  give  intense  exhibition  to  our  feeling  of  spiritual 
fellowship  with  the  whole  Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  we  have 
done  so. 

If  there  is  any  place  on  earth  where  the  Master  would  be  sure 
to  fulfil  His  promise  it  would  be  here.  "Where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  in  my  name,  I  am  with  them,"  but  when  all  the  branches 
of  His  great  fanuly  come  together  and  are  represented  before 
Him,  you  may  almost  see  Him  in  your  midst  and  feel  the  touch 
of  His  hand  upon  you  and  hear  His  voice.  We  are  driven  to 
lowliness  before  Him,  and  lift  full  hearts  and  streaming  eyes  to 
Him.  We  are  giving  the  glory  to  Him  of  our  union  as  a  family, 
as  families  gathered  together  under  one  head.  There  is  no  other 
point  of  union;  there  is  no  other  power  that  can  bring  us  to- 
gether; there  is  no  attraction  but  that  which  finds  its  centre  and 
its  source  in  Him  for  whom  every  family  in  heaven  and  earth  is 
named. 

As  to  results  in  years  to  come.  Fifty  years  ago  this  Conference 
would  have  been  an  impossibility.  I  remember  the  jealousies  and 
distrusts  and  alienations  of  those  years,  and  I  know  that  nobody 
would  have  dreamed  of  entering  into  such  a  combination  and  Con- 

475 


476  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

ference  as  we  have  here  to-day;  and  I  am  perfectly  certain  that  in 
ten,  twenty  years  to  come  we  shall  see  results  that  we  do  not 
dream  of  to-day.  This  river  is  going  to  widen  as  it  goes  out  from 
under  the  temple,  and  it  is  going  to  fructify  all  soils  and  all  lands, 
and  the  day  is  coming  when  the  richest  harvests  that  earth  ever 
saw  will  grow  up  and  bless  all  lands  as  the  fruit  and  result  of  our 
gathering  and  speaking  and  praying  here.  One  soweth  and  another 
reapeth ;  we  labor,  and  others  in  years  to  come  wiU  enter  into  our 
labors.  I  shall  not  live  to  see  it,  but  before  God  I  expect  that  in 
ten,  twenty  years  to  come  we  shall  have  results  from  this  combi- 
nation of  Christian  forces  such  as  have  not  been  realized  by  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  the  last  two  centuries,  and  I  thank  God  for 
the  prospect.  I  need  say  no  more.  The  blessing  of  God  is  on  the 
Conference  and  will  continue  to  follow  its  work  in  the  years  to 
<;ome. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  F.  D.  Power,  D.D. 


As  God  is  God  there  is  no  such  thing  in  all  the  universe  as 
an  unanswered  prayer.  Christ's  prayer  for  the  unity  of  His 
people  was  answered;  is  being  answered;  will  be  fully  answered. 
We  descend  from  our  Hermon,  where  the  "Sons  of  Thunder"  and 
the  "Men  of  Rock"  have  had  their  vision  with  the  Master,  to 
serve  in  the  valley.  We  have  been  on  the  mountain  top  during 
these  days.  What  are  some  results  of  this  holy  convocation? 

We  will  pray  for  union.  The  spirit  of  unity  is  the  spirit  of 
prayer.  We  must  depend  more  upon  God  and  less  upon  our  own 
plans,  discussions  and  overtures.  Heaven  has  a  part  here;  near- 
ness to  God  must  promote  the  nearness  of  Christians  to  each 
other,  and  unless  God's  people  are  willing  to  bring  themselves 
into  humble  submission  to  His  will  no  effort  at  closer  union  can 
be  successful.  Nothing  is  more  practical  than  prayer.  "If  two  of 
you  shall  agree  on  earth" — agree  in  heart,  mind,  will,  desire, 
faith — "as  touching  anything,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my 
Father  which  is  in  Heaven."  What  power  there  would  be  in  the 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  if  the  multitude  of  them  that  believed 
should  all  agree  touching  their  common  needs  and  send  their  pe- 


PRAYER  AND  A  UNITED  CHURCH  477 

iition  up  before  the  throne  as  one  man.  If  the  supplication  of  all 
the  family  of  those  that  love  God  and  His  Son,  blended  in  one 
voice  for  the  Father's  ear,  should  roll  up  to  the  gates  of  Heaven, 
would  not  the  gates  fly  wide,  and  the  angels  rejoice,  and  the  cities 
of  hell  shake  to  their  foundation  with  the  shock?  Would  not 
Heaven  drop  down  from  above,  and  the  skies  pour  down  righteous- 
ness, and  the  earth  open  and  bring  forth  salvation,  and  righteous- 
ness spring  up  from  sea  to  sea?  Would  there  be  any  longer  strife 
and  division,  the  body  of  Christ  bleeding  because  of  the  warring 
cf  its  members,  and  the  sweet  sounds  of  the  ringing,  thrilling 
Gospel  of  Christ  be  mufBed  and  hindered  by  the  noise  of  conflict 
among  God's  people?  L^t  the  whole  Church  come  with  deep, 
tender,  yearning,  solemn  petition  to  the  throne  of  Mercy,  as 
Christ  in  the  upper  chamber  in  Jerusalem,  and  the  dawn  of  the 
perfect  day  will  soon  gladden  the  Eastern  skies.  The  Master 
taught  us  to  pray  for  union.    Let  us  pray. 

We  will  recognize  our  Lord's  disciples,  wherever  they  are,  as 
brethren.  "I  pray  not  for  these  alone,  but  for  all  them  that  be- 
lieve on  Me  through  their  word  that  they  may  all  be  one."  This 
prayer  reaches  out  to  all  peoples,  all  lands,  all  ages.  "Other  sheep 
have  I  that  are  not  of  this  fold,"  said  Jesus.  "I  am  of  the  Church 
of  All  Saints,  and  all  saints  are  of  my  Church,"  says  the  true 
Christian.  All  spirit  of  narrowness,  of  bigotry,  of  intolerance,  of 
exclusiveness,  is  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  unity.  No  process  of 
compulsion  can  ever  bring  unity.  No  plan  of  Christian  union 
can  ever  succeed  that  does  not  respect  every  man's  liberty  in 
Christ  Jesus,  No  religious  body  can  ever  effect  it  by  lifting  up 
its  standard  and  crying  "We  are  the  people."  No  spirit  can  ever 
commend  itself  as  the  spirit  of  unity  that  is  not  as  broadly  cath- 
olic as  the  spirit  of  the  Master  on  His  knees,  serving  as  the  High 
Priest  of  all  the  human  race.  No  progress  can  ever  be  made 
toward  the  bringing  together  of  God's  people  unless  we  are  willing 
to  magnify  our  points  of  agreement  and  minimize  our  points  of 
difference,  recognize  our  brother's  work  and  cooperate  with  him 
as  far  as  we  are  able,  and  feel  that  Christian  unity  may  be  pro- 
moted and  in  a  large  measure  realized  in  a  united  Christian 
service. 

We  will  be  willing  to  sacrifice  for  the  cause  of  unity.  Jesus 
is  on  the  way  to  Gethsemane.  The  shadow  of  the  cross  is  upon 
Him.  Self  is  upon  the  altar.  He  is  about  to  give  His  life  for  his 
brethren.    Such  must  be  the  spirit  of  unity.     Do  we  find  that 


478  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

party  names  and  creedal  statements  hinder  the  coming  of  a 
united  Christendom?  Does  the  exaltation  of  the  commandments 
of  men  in  place  of  the  commandments  of  Christ  occasion  strife? 
Do  human  contentions  and  quibbles  over  mint,  anise  and  cummin 
fetter  and  cripple  the  mighty  giant  which  has  the  conversion  of 
the  world  on  its  hands  ?  The  spirit  of  unity  demands  the  putting 
away  or  the  subordination  of  these  things.  The  spirit  of  unity  is 
the  spirit  of  concession,  the  spirit  of  self-denial,  the  spirit  that 
says  "I  will  eat  no  meat  while  the  world  stands  if  it  make  my 
brother  to  offend."  "I  would  not  surrender  my  denominational 
name  for  the  world.  ISTo,  not  for  the  world;  but  for  Christ's  sake 
I  will  gladly  surrender  it."  The  spirit  of  Jesus  in  His  intercessory 
prayer  must  be  the  spirit  of  the  Church,  and  He  alone  be  Sov- 
ereign. 

We  shall  above  all  else  be  inspired  by  such  Conferences  as 
this  to  love  our  brethren.  The  spirit  of  sectarianism  is  the  spirit 
of  hatred ;  the  spirit  of  unity  is  the  spirit  of  love.  Who  can  ever 
sound  the  depths  of  the  heart  of  Jesus  as  He  pleads :  "I  pray  not 
for  these  alone,  but  for  all  that  believe  on  Me  through  their 
word?"  How  can  we  ever  be  worthy  of  the  exalted  condition  He 
asks  for  us,  "As  thou  Father  Art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee,  that  they 
may  be  one  in  Us,"  unless  thoroughly  dominated  by  this  prin- 
ciple? Forbearing  one  another  in  love  and  endeavoring  to  keep 
the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace,  all  barriers  must 
be  removed  as  if  straws.  The  Thirteenth  of  First  Corinthians 
must  go  with  the  Seventeenth  of  John  in  accomplishing  the  unity 
of  Christendom.  The  fruits  of  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  us  are  '%ve, 
joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,"  and  when 
these  are  exhibited  in  the  lives  of  Christian  men  and  women 
everywhere  the  unity  of  the  Church  will  be  mightily  hastened. 
We  shall  not  have  restored  Christianity  according  to  the  Apostles 
until  faith,  hope  and  love  are  exalted  to  their  true  positions. 
"There  is  a  more  excellent  way." 

Such  has  not  been  the  spirit  of  the  past.  "Show  me  the 
peaceful  reign  of  the  Messiah,"  said  a  Jewish  Eabbi,  "and  I  will 
be  a  Christian,  and  not  before."  "Do  you  want  schools  on  your 
reservation?"  was  asked  of  Chief  Joseph  of  the  Nez  Perces  tribe 
of  Indians.  "No,"  was  the  red  man's  emphatic  answer,  "No ;  the 
schools  will  bring  us  Churches."  "Don't  you  want  Churches?" 
"No,  no;  they  will  teach  us  to  quarrel  about  God,  as  Protestants 


RESULTS    EXPECTED    FROM    FEDERATION  479 

and  Catholics  do.  We  fight  each  other,  but  we  don't  want  to 
fight  about  God." 

The  world  in  its  disunity  was  Babel;  men  were  strangers,  bar- 
barians, aliens,  Scythians — anything  but  brethren.  Christ  came 
teaching  a  new  dispensation.  Love  was  the  new  law,  and  men 
began  to  realize  that  they  were  one  family.  They  had  all  things 
in  common.  They  were  no  more  strangers  and  aliens,  but  fellow- 
citizens  with  the  saints  and  of  the  household  of  God,  children  of 
one  Father,  citizens  of  one  Republic,  brethren.  So  the  work  went 
forward  until  pagan  temples  crumbled,  idols  fell  upon  their  faces, 
philosophers  were  convicted  of  their  folly,  the  Roman  eagle  was 
hurled  from  the  throne  of  the  Caesars,  the  standard  of  the  cross 
was  borne  before  the  standards  of  all  nations.  To-day  the  same 
results  may  be  reached  in  less  than  three  centuries  with  the  same 
concentrated  effort.  Are  we  not  seeking  the  same  end — the  re- 
pairing of  the  evils  wrought  by  sin,  and  the  joy  of  a  meeting  be- 
fore the  throne?  Two  Scotchmen,  a  Burgher  and  an  anti- 
Burgher,  both  lived  in  the  same  house,  but  at  opposite  ends.  It 
was  the  bargain  that  each  should  keep  his  side  of  the  house  well 
thatched.  When  the  dispute  between  their  respective  kirks  grew 
hot  the  two  neighbors  ceased  to  speak  to  each  other.  But  one  day 
it  happened  they  were  both  on  the  roof  at  the  same  time,  each 
repairing  the  slope  on  his  own  side,  and  when  they  had  worked 
up  to  the  top  they  were  face  to  face.  They  could  not  flee,  so  at 
last  Andrew  took  off  his  cap,  and,  scratching  his  head,  exclaimed: 
"Johnny,  you  and  me,  I  think,  have  been  very  foolish  to  dispute 
as  we  hae  done  concerning  Christ's  will  about  our  kirks,  until  we 
hae  clean  forgot  His  will  aboot  ourselves.  Whatever's  wrang,  if s 
perfectly  certain  it  can  never  be  right  to  be  unneighborly,  uncivil, 
unkind,  in  fact,  to  hate  one  anither.  Na,  na,  that's  the  devil's 
wark  and  na  God's.  Noo,  it  strikes  me,  that  maybe  it's  wi'  the 
kirk  as  wi'  this  house — ^ye're  warking  on  ane  side  and  me  on 
f  ither,  but  if  we  only  do  our  wark  weel  we  will  meet  at  the  tap 
at  last.   Gie  us  yer  ban',  auld  neighbor." 

My  brethren.  Demos  is  waking.  He  looks  upon  much  of  this 
state  of  things  as  belonging  to  the  paganism  of  the  priesthood. 
The  people  are  tired  of  our  differences;  let  their  leaders  confess 
and  forsake  their  sins,  and  the  great  multitude  of  Christendom 
will  join  hands.  Educate  the  masters  is  a  needful  word.  Are  we 
ever  tempted  to  forget  that  we  are  Christians  ?  Let  us  return  to 
the  spirit  of  Christ.     Do  we  ask  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  to 


480  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

dissolve  their  armaments,  to  decree  that  there  shall  be  no  more 
war?  Let  us  see  that  in  the  Kingdom  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  the 
drum-beat  of  civU  conflict  is  hushed.  Do  we  speculate  about  a 
universal  language,  and  so  predict  the  unity  and  cooperation  of 
the  human  race  ?  Let  us  who  have  our  speech  ordained  of  heaven 
all  speak  the  same  thing  and  preserve  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in 
the  bond  of  peace.  Do  we  desire  for  our  King  that  He  may  have 
the  heathen  for  His  inheritance  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  for  His  possession,  and  that  the  kingdoms  of  this  world 
shall  become  His  kingdom?  Let  us  pray  with  Him  that  all  His 
people  may  be  one,  that  the  world  may  believe.  As  the  President 
of  the  United  States  by  touching  a  button  set  the  great  machinery 
of  the  World's  Fair  in  motion,  with  one  united  purpose  started 
the  play  of  fountains,  unfurled  thousands  of  flags  and  banners  in 
an  instant,  quickened  all  the  stupendous  forces  of  nature,  har- 
nessed there  to  do  man's  will  and  go  forward  in  unity  and  har- 
mony, so  may  the  spirit  of  the  Son  of  God  quicken  and  move  His 
people  to  their  common  service  and  their  common  victory. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  D.  S.  Stephens,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


The  most  important  result  of  this  Conference,  to  my  mind,  will 
be  the  impulse  given  to  spiritual  solidarity — to  oneness  of  mind 
among  the  Churches.  I  place  unity  of  spirit  above  any  visible  ef- 
fects this  Conference  may  have  upon  ecclesiastical  life.  If  a  com- 
mon life  animates  men,  harmony  of  action  is  sure  to  follow.  Any 
external  cooperation  that  does  not  express  an  inward  community 
of  life  is  mechanical  and  meaningless.  Uniformity  of  action  sig- 
nifies nothing  unless  it  proceeds  from  the  inward  unity  of  the 
spirit.  Where  oneness  of  purpose  and  enthusiasm  inspires  men, 
efficiency  of  cooperation  is  guaranteed.  Consequently,  I  say,  the 
real  significance  of  this  movement  will  be  its  effect  in  fusing  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  Churches  into  one  common  inspiration. 

Protestantism  has  not  presented  a  united  front  to  the  world 
in  the  past.  It  has  split  up  into  sects  and  separate  organizations. 
Each  has  moved  independently  and  been  inspired  by  distinct  en- 
thusiasms. The  powerful  influence  that  comes  from  united  action 
has  been  lost.     Still  this  has  been  inevitable.    The  aims  that  have 


REV.    NEWELL    DWIGHT    HILLIS,    D.D.  REV.    BISHOP   W.    S.    DERRICK,    D.D. 


REV.    J.   WILBUR   CHAPMAN,    D.D.  REV.    THOMAS    B.    TURNBULL,    D.D. 


RESULTS   EXPECTED    FROM    FEDERATION  481 

inspired  the  Protestant  movement  have  made  it  impossible  to  be 
otherwise.  It  is  no  stigma  on  Protestantism  that  the  first  period 
in  her  history  has  been  characterized  by  schisms  and  divisions. 
Her  first  great  work  was  to  secure  the  conditions  that  perfect  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  individual.  Her  first  concern  was  to  estab- 
lish that  freedom  which  enables  the  individual  soul  to  reach  the 
fulness  of  its  life.  She  perceived  that  the  primary  condition  for 
the  allegiance  of  the  spirit  to  God  is  freedom  from  the  domination 
of  all  outward  masters.  She  therefore  focussed  her  energies  toward 
securing  spiritual  liberty.  This  alone  is  the  condition  through 
which  the  spiritual  life  of  the  individual  soul  is  enriched  and  deep- 
ened. Vigor  and  sincerity  of  individual  soul-life  have,  conse- 
quently, been  her  absorbing  aim. 

The  first  fruits  of  spiritual  freedom  are  schisms  and  divisions. 
Eccentricity  is  the  first  stage  in  the  development  of  new  and  un- 
tried powers.  The  undisciplined  spirits  of  men  assert  their  indi- 
viduality by  distributing  the  emphasis  of  their  spiritual  life  ac- 
cording to  their  own  wayward  fancies.  They  make  but  little  dis- 
crimination between  that  which  is  fundamental  and  that  which  is 
subordinate.  The  effervescence  of  newly  acquired  liberty  brings 
sediment  to  the  top.  But  as  time  goes  on  men  gain  their  spiritual 
perspective.  Things  fundamental  take  their  proper  place.  Things 
subordinate  sink  to  their  proper  level. 

Protestant  sects  a  hundred  or  even  fifty  years  ago  were  sepa- 
rated by  what  seemed  insurmountable  barriers.  This  was  the 
penalt}'  paid  for  spiritual  liberty.  The  years  have  rolled  by  and 
to-day  the  stress  of  emphasis  in  Protestant  Churches  falls  essen- 
tially on  the  same  fundamental  aspects  of  the  truth. 

This  community  of  spiritual  life  in  the  Churches  portends  a  new 
epoch  in  the  evolution  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  prophetic  of  the  realiza- 
tion of  Christ's  prayer  that  His  followers  might  be  made  perfect 
in  one.  Protestantism  has  contended  for  fulness  of  individual 
spiritual  life.  She  now  finds  that  this  has  fitted  men  for  entering 
into  a  profounder  unity.  Biology  teaches  us  that  differentiation 
lays  the  basis  for  deeper  integration.  Protestantism  has  gained 
for  the  world  the  conditions  that  differentiate  the  spiritual  life  of 
men.  By  perfecting  the  soul-life  of  the  individual,  she  has  pre- 
pared men  for  entering  into  the  unity  of  the  spirit.  The  era  of 
spiritual  differentiation  draws  to  a  close.  The  era  of  spiritual  in- 
tegration dawns  on  the  world.  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand. 
The  rich  materials  of  spiritual  heterogeneity  are  now  to  be  wrought 


482  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

into  organic  corporate  life.    They  must  ultimately  find  expression 
in  a  common  spiritual  life  and  a  common  corporate  existence. 

In  Nature  the  pendulum  of  life  oscillates  between  movement 
toward  perfection  of  the  individual  and  movement  which  merges 
the  individual  in  the  deeper  unity  of  integration.  So  it  is  in  the 
evolution  of  the  Gospel  in  human  life.  The  Gospel  first  confers  on 
men  the  liberty  wherewith  "Christ  hath  made  them  free."  Then 
it  calls  them  to  the  deeper  unity  whereby  they  are  ''made  perfect 
in  one."  Protestantism  has  compassed  the  first  swing  of  the  pen- 
dulum. She  has  realized  the  conditions  which  secure  Gospel  lib- 
erty to  men.  She  now  faces  a  new  problem,  a  new  epoch  in  the 
evolution  of  the  Gospel.  The  problem  before  the  Protestant  world 
now  is  to  reconcile  this  liberty  with  the  deeper  unity  which  the  day 
demands.  How  shall  we  preserve  the  hard-won  victory  of  the 
Reformation,  and  yet  move  on  toward  the  goal  of  solidarity  ? 

■Roman  Catholicism  has  gained  ecclesiastical  solidarity  by 
smothering  the  Christian  conscience.  Protestantism  has  achieved 
individualism  at  the  expense  of  ecclesiastical  unity.  How  shall 
these  two  be  reconciled  ? 

As  Protestants  we  have  lost  sight  of  the  obligation  the  indi- 
vidual owes  to  the  species.  We  have  overlooked  the  organic  bond 
that  unites  the  individual  to  the  organic  life  of  the  race.  We  have 
not  sufficiently  realized  that  "no  man  liveth  to  himself  alone."  We 
have  not  perceived  that  the  individual  conscience  is  part  of  an  in- 
tegral whole.  The  Reformation  has  made  possible  vigor  of  spirit- 
ual life.  How  shall  this  precious  heritage  be  harmonized  with  the 
solidarity  of  corporate  life  which  is  the  demand  of  to-day?  How 
shall  the  cooperation  of  men  in  the  visible  Church  be  made  effective 
without  destroying  the  robust  faith  of  individualism? 

There  is  but  one  answer.  The  life  of  the  spirit  must  be  exalted 
to  the  supreme  place.  The  visible  Church  must  step  down  to  sec- 
ond place.  The  living  Church  which  God  establishes  in  the  hearts 
of  His  children  must  be  made  supreme.  The  visible  Church  must 
become  a  true  reflex  of  the  common  life  which  God's  Spirit  in- 
spires in  the  consciences  of  the  faithful.  The  religion  of  authority 
and  tradition  must  give  way  to  the  religion  of  the  spirit.  Protest- 
ants must  move  forward  to  the  life  of  the  spirit  in  its  fubiess. 
They  dare  not  stand  still.  They  dare  not  go  back  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  standards  of  authority  and  tradition.  Protestantism  is 
committed  to  a  living  religion  as  against  a  religion  of  legalism. 
Such  a  subordination  of  the  corporate  Church  to  the  rule  of 


RESULTS   EXPECTED    FROM   FEDERATION  483 

the  spirit  can  be  found  only  in  some  form  of  democracy.  The 
logical  outcome  of  the  Gospel  is  a  form  of  social  compact  in  which 
men  move  unitedly — not  through  the  coercion  of  external  authority 
— but  through  the  impelling  power  of  a  common  inward  life.  True 
unity  of  social  life  does  not  come  through  the  pressure  of  hierarch- 
ical authority.  It  is  realized  only  through  the  constraining  power 
of  love.  When  the  same  affections  inspire  men,  then  will  they  move 
in  unison.  Liberty  and  love  are  the  two  great  forces  that  shall 
unite  and  redeem  the  world.  When  men  love  the  same  things  they 
will  be  both  united  and  free.  Both  Church  and  State  must  move 
toward  that  form  of  corporate  life  which  responds  to  the  move- 
ments of  God's  Spirit  in  the  common  life  of  His  children.  The 
social  ideal  of  the  Gospel  is  a  connectionalism  whose  first  concern 
is  to  preserve  individualism.  The  world  is  waiting  for  this  next 
great  achievement  of  God's  Church,  The  next  evolution  of  the 
Christian  Church  must  synchronize  liberty  of  conscience — our  com- 
mon Protestant  heritage — with  solidarity  of  corporate  life.  Every 
conscience  must  be  absolutely  free  and  yet  joyfully  enter  into 
fellowship  with  all  of  God's  children.  The  efficiency  that  comes 
from  a  compactly  organized  social  life  must  be  achieved  without 
the  sacrifice  of  the  dearly  bought  freedom  of  conscience  that  Prot- 
estantism has  secured.  Protestantism  can  never  afford  to  seek  any 
corporate  solidarity  that  will  sacrifice  the  autonomy  of  the  indi- 
vidual conscience.  This  victory  has  been  too  dearly  bought  to  be 
thrown  away.  The  Church  of  the  future,  therefore,  must  seek  an 
organic  unity  which  is  but  the  outward  expression  of  the  deeper 
unity  of  the  spirit.  No  mere  mechanical  uniformity  will  do.  The 
efficiency  that  depends  on  external  authority  is  out  of  the  question. 
The  corporate  unity  that  will  characterize  the  Church  of  the 
future  must  be  the  outworking  of  the  common  life  which  God's 
Spirit  inspires  in  the  hearts  of  His  children.  It  will  not  depend 
for  its  perpetuity  upon  hierarchical  devices.  It  will  establish  itself 
solely  through  the  power  of  God's  love  enthroned  in  Christian  con- 
sciousness. It  will  not  depend  for  the  success  of  its  administra- 
tion upon  ecclesiastical  machinery  alone.  Rather  it  will  find  its 
greatest  efficiency  in  the  consensus  of  moral  conviction  wrought  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  hearts  of  devout  men.  It  will  register  a  vote 
of  confidence  in  the  Almighty  by  allowing  His  Spirit  to  control 
the  visible  Church.  It  will  seek  to  create  legitimate  channels  for 
the  expression  of  that  moral  conviction  which  God's  Spirit,  when 
unimpeded,  always  inspires  in  the  common  life  of  His  children.    I 


484  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

know  it  will  be  urged  that  such  a  Church  is  impossible — a  vision- 
ary ideal  that  cannot  be  realized.  I  cannot  believe  it.  If  it  is  an 
unattainable  dream,  then  the  Eeformation  was  the  colossal  blunder 
of  the  ages.  There  is  nothing  left  to  us  but  to  go  back  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  standards  of  tradition  and  legalism. 

We  Protestants  have  espoused  a  great  principle.  That  prin- 
ciple is,  A  LIVING  REVELATION  OF  OOD  IN  THE  PRES- 
ENT MORAL  CONSCIOUSNESS  OF  HIS  CHILDREN.  But 
we  do  not  consistently  apply  this  principle.  We  do  not  give  to  it 
its  rightful  supremacy.  We  do  not  implicitly  trust  it.  We  are 
like  the  timid  Indian  who  by  his  lack  of  courage  earned  for  him- 
self the  name  of  " Young-Man- Afraid-of-His-Horse."  We  do  not 
sufficiently  realize  that  God  speaks  through  regenerated  human 
experience  to-day  as  truly  as  of  yore.  It  is  hard  for  us  to  be- 
lieve that  the  Holy  Ghost  will  actually  guide  us  into  all  truth.  We 
enshrine  the  words  of  the  prophets  of  olden  time  in  holy  reverence, 
but  are  too  often  ready  to  stone  the  prophets  of  to-day.  We  are 
alarmed  when  men  assault  the  supernatural  manifestations  of  God 
through  human  life  in  the  past,  but  are  indifferent  when  they  deny 
the  presence  of  the  supernatural  in  human  life  of  present  time. 

My  friends,  the  true  mission  of  Protestantism  is  to  vindicate 
the  truth  that  God  touches  human  life  to-day  in  supernatural 
power.  We  must  bring  to  religion  the  power  of  realism.  The 
world  needs  a  fresh  consciousness  of  the  nearness  of  God.  What 
the  world  needs  is  such  an  interpretation  of  the  facts  of  regen- 
erated human  life  as  will  awaken  an  irresistible  conviction  that 
God  is  revealed  in  it.  The  primacy  of  regenerated  experience  as 
the  criterion  of  religious  truth  is  the  foundation  on  which  the 
Church  must  take  its  stand. 

Protestantism  has  won  for  the  individual  conscience  right  to 
free  expression.  Its  work  now  is  to  find  a  voice  for  the  collective 
conscience  of  the  visible  Church  in  its  entirety.  The  individual 
conscience  is  very  finite.  Its  vision  of  the  truth  is  partial,  nar- 
row and  incomplete.  Often  it  is  erratic  and  perverted.  It  needs 
the  corrective  of  the  social  consciousness  of  the  Church  and  of 
the  race. 

The  most  important  result  of  this  Conference  is  its  contribu- 
tion to  the  solution  of  this  problem.  The  spiritual  unity  which  has 
made  possible  the  Federation  which  we  have  formed  is  the  first 
great  step  toward  that  more  perfect  corporate  unity  which  the 
future  has  in  store  for  us.  Time  will  complete  the  work  which  we 
have  begun. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  Charles  A.  Dickey,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


During  the  entire  progress  of  this  Conference  the  growing  en- 
thusiasm and  hope  has  continually  anticipated  the  subject  pre- 
sented for  discussion  this  morning,  namely,  What  Practical  Ke- 
sults  May  Be  Expected  ?  I  think,  brethren,  that  we  should,  first 
of  all,  caution  ourselves  not  to  set  our  hopes  too  high  at  the  start 
and  not  to  permit  larger  expectations  than  we  may  possibly  meet. 
I  am  fully  assured  that  if  we  are  satisfied  with  some  good  things 
that  are  possible  we  will  more  surely  find  the  ultimate  mark  and 
goal,  this  complete  and  perfect  unity  of  which  we  have  heard  in 
the  able  address  just  given.  But  I  fear,  brethren,  that  if  we  adopt 
organic  union  at  the  beginning  we  will  fail  to  find  the  practical 
results  of  the  Federation  which  by  experience  will  bring  us  before 
we  know,  and  to  our  astonishment,  to  this  complete  and  perfect 
union. 

I  would  like,  in  the  few  minutes  allowed  me,  to  try  to  look 
at  this  question  from  a  Presbyterian  standpoint,  simply  because 
it  seems  to  me  that  we  are  each  most  likely  to  see,  if  we  view  from 
the  standpoint  with  which  we  are  most  familiar.  But  before 
making  a  few  statements  from  this  standpoint  I  want  to  say  as 
my  conviction  that  this  Conference  is  itself  a  practical  result  of 
things  that  have  been  transpiring,  and  if  we  separate  with  nothing 
else  in  view,  and  only  to  look  back  upon  the  memories  of  this  Con- 
ference, we  have  enough  of  result  to  thank  God  and  to  take  cour- 
age and  to  go  back  to  our  individual  work  in  our  individual 
places. 

This  Conference  is  the  first  great  positive  expression  of  the 
unity  that  is  to  convince  a  doubting  world  and  to  encourage  a 
doubting  Church.  This  Conference  represents  actually  twenty 
millions  of  the  population  of  this  country. 

I  propose  to  treat  the  subject  suggested  for  discussion  this 
morning  chiefly  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches. 
I  am  to  speak  of  the  practical  results  to  be  expected  from  this 
Conference. 

The  Conference  is  its  ovm  justification.  It  is  a  success,  even  if 
results  hoped  for  should  not  soon  appear.  It  may  be  best  not  to 
set  our  expectations  too  high — not  to  court  disappointment  by  ex- 
pecting too  much. 

485 


486  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

The  Conference  itself  is  the  expression  of  an  existing  iinity, 
which  shows  a  doubting  Church  and  a  doubting  world  that  fully 
one-fourth  of  the  population  of  our  country  is  a  unit  regarding 
essential  and  revealed  truth — a  unit  regarding  the  Headship  of 
Christ,  and  the  redemption  of  the  world  by  His  gracious  atone- 
ment; a  unit  regarding  the  necessity  of  a  higher  Christian  educa- 
tion and  of  a  deeper  Christian  purpose,  to  destroy  error  and  to 
make  the  truth  a  power;  a  unit  in  the  determination  to  help  the 
whole  world  to  attain  righteous  liberty  and  Gospel  rights;  a  unit 
in  the  purpose  to  uphold  law  and  to  put  down  lawlessness;  in  a 
word,  a  unit  in  a  sincere  and  earnest  purpose  to  glorify  the 
Master  with  the  deliverance  of  men  from  the  distress  of  sin.  Is 
this  not  enough  of  practical  result  to  emphasize  the  significance 
and  far-reaching  influence  of  this  remarkable  gathering  of  the 
forces  of  Christendom? 

The  Presbyterian  trend  has  been,  increasingly,  toward  closer 
union  with  Reformation  Churches,  and  we  expect  to  receive  new 
impetus  and  new  encouragement  from  this  Conference. 

Thirty-five  years  ago  we  healed  a  breach,  and  the  results  in 
our  own  communion  have  been  incalculable.  Our  increase  of 
strength,  the  marvellous  development  of  our  resources  and  the 
reach  and  influence  of  the  power  of  the  Church  have  more  than 
justified  the  union  of  1869,  and  have  more  than  fulfilled  our 
hopes. 

No  agitation  since  this  union  has  caused  us  to  question  the 
wisdom  that  consummated  it,  and  no  differences  have  changed  the 
spirit  that  made  the  union  possible  a  generation  ago. 

With  this  union  began  the  discussion  of  confessional  revision 
in  the  reunited  Presbyterian  Church.  There  were  differences  of 
interpretation  among  ourselves,  which  suggested  revision,  as  a 
promise  of  less  friction  and  of  more  confidence.  Many  believed 
that  our  machinery  would  run  more  smoothly  and  more  effectively 
if  we  should  apply  the  oil  of  revision. 

But  the  chief  consideration  that  suggested  revision  was  a 
strong  desire  to  remove  misapprehensions  that  made  those  outside 
seem  a  little  shy  of  us.  Constructions  put  upon  our  confession  by 
some  within,  but  chiefly  by  those  without,  created  barriers  to 
imion  and  federation  and  prevented  cooperation  and  comity. 

In  the  midst  of  our  revision  discussion  some  serious  questions 
arose  which  disturbed  our  own  peace,  and  it  was  thought  wise  to 


RESULTS    EXPECTED    FROM    FEDERATION  487 

attend  to  home  repairs  and  to  make  sure  of  our  own  foundationfi 
before  we  began  to  alter  the  structure. 

Eevision  was  dormant  for  ten  years,  but  with  the  dawn  of 
the  new  century  the  discussion  was  resumed,  and  with  a  unanimity 
which  surprised  its  advocates  a  satisfactory  revision  was  adopted 
in  1903,  and  the  Church  commended  a  brief  Statement  of  Doc- 
trine, which  this  Conference  might  possibly  accept  as  a  basis  of 
union,  or  at  least  as  a  basis  for  close  federation. 

The  results  of  this  revision  action  have  been,  prominently, 
two.  First,  the  proposal  of  seven  closely  allied  Churches  to  or- 
ganize a  Presbyterian  Federation,  and,  second,  the  proposal  of  two 
of  these  Churches  to  come  with  us  into  organic  union.  I  am  not  at 
liberty  to  discuss  either  of  these  propositions  here,  I  only  allude 
to  them  to  show  that  the  trend  and  drift  in  the  Presbyterian 
family  are  strongly  toward  the  mark  of  evangelical  unity  and  co- 
operation. -     > 

With  such  a  manifest  trend,  in  the  most  conservative  Churches, 
may  we  not  expect  that  the  action  of  this  Conference,  which  em- 
bodies the  representatives  of  all  these  Churches  which  are  already 
alive  and  active,  and  which  are  fully  committed  to  the  desirable- 
ness and  to  the  practicability  of  Federation,  will  result  in  prac- 
tical findings  and  in  practical  determinations,  which  will  revive 
the  hopes  and  fire  the  zeal  of  all  who  ''love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  sincerity"? 

An  influence  potent  enough  to  move  this  busy  metropolis  to 
throw  open  its  gates  and  to  give  such  a  generous  welcome  for  a 
week  to  nearly  a  thousand  Christian  workmen,  representing  more 
than  twenty  millions  of  believers;  potent  enough  to  rivet  the  at- 
tention of  the  world,  and  to  enlist  the  deep  interest  of  our  own 
countiy;  potent  enough  to  formulate  and  to  execute  the  splendid 
work  of  this  week  of  Conference,  and  potisnt  enough  to  inspire 
such  enthusiasm  in  the  cause  of  Christian  unity,  such  an  influ- 
ence, we  may  well  be  assured,  will  not  spend  itself  in  the  accom- 
plishments and  passing  pleasures  of  this  week  of  Christian  com- 
munion. 

From  this  spring  must  flow  a  river  which  will  make  glad  the 
City  of  our  God.  Those  who  have  gathered  about  this  fire  will 
light  their  torches  and  carry  them  to  every  camp.  Having  tasted, 
and  having  seen  how  good  such  fellowship  of  believers  is,  every 
lover  of  the  Kingdom,  every  man  whose  hope  is  set  upon  the 
quickest   possible    cleansing   and   complete   redemption   of   the 


488  CHURCH  FEDERATION' 

world,  will  feel  the  force  of  the  federated  power  and  the  gain  for 
Christ  in  the  oneness  for  which  He  prayed,  that  the  world  might 
know  that  the  Father  had  sent  Him. 

We  will  go  back  to  work,  wherever  God  has  appointed  our 
work,  with  a  fixed  resolve  to  study  the  things  that  make  for  peace, 
and  the  things  whereby  we  may  build  one  another  up,  and  build 
ourselves  together. 

We  are  encouraged  to  believe  that  this  Conference  will  create 
a  mutual  confidence,  which  will  insure  comity  and  close  relation- 
ship in  the  defence  of  essential  truth. 

Discovering  how  much  truth  we  hold  in  common,  and  at  what 
few  points  there  is  variance,  may  we  not  expect,  as  a  practical 
result  of  the  Conference,  that  the  unredeemed  world  will  recognize 
the  unity  that  we  have  recognized,  which  will  incline  us  to  em- 
phasize our  agreements  rather  than  our  differences. 

No  fault  should  be  found  with  those  who  may  frankly  and 
forcibly  present  peculiar  convictions,  but  is  it  not  reasonable  to 
expect  that  this  mighty  phalanx  will  move  with  one  accord  upon 
a  resisting  and  imperiled  world  to  convince  the  world  of  the  sins 
which  we  condemn  in  common,  and  of  the  righteousness  which,  in 
common,  we  count  essential  for  salvation. 

We  stand  together  in  the  defence  of  religious  liberty  and  for  a 
definite  separation  of  Church  and  State.  But  I  trust  that  one  of 
the  practical  results  of  this  Conference  will  be  the  organization  of 
a  force  that  lawbreakers  and  lawmakers  will  respect  and  heed 
when  great  questions  of  morals  are  involved. 

Our  Gospel  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  law.  It  is  our  province 
in  the  name  of  the  Supreme  King,  and  seeking  the  good  of  man- 
kind, to  ask  rulers  to  respect  the  code  of  our  Kingdom.  Rulers 
may  ignore  sects,  but  they  will  respect  the  Church.  This  Federa- 
tion will  compel  an  audience,  and  it  will  speak  with  power  if  it 
will  put  aside  its  differences  and  make  its  agreement  its  argument. 

Just  now,  when  the  nation  is  awake  and  conscious  of  the  perils 
that  threaten  the  home,  when  the  very  foundations  are  being  de- 
stroyed by  Mormonism,  and  reckless  divorce,  the  representatives 
of  a  third  of  our  citizenship  will  surely  resolve  to  stand  and  speak 
for  the  Scriptural  defences  of  our  homes  and  plead  for  the  purity 
of  the  family,  which  is  the  hope  of  our  nation  and  the  hope  of  the 
Church. 

Providence  is  showing  us  an  open  door,  and  there  is  great  en- 
couragement for  effort.     The  great  cities,  whose  throbbing  life 


RESULTS    EXPECTED    FROM    FEDERATION  489 

will  determine  the  destiny  of  our  country,  are  aroused  as  never 
before  and  agitated  by  moral  issues  and  movements  of  reform. 

Great  masses,  feeling  for  their  rights,  and  mistaking  license 
for  liberty,  are  ready  to  resort  to  extreme  and  evil  methods  to 
break  their  yokes  and  to  satisfy  their  passions. 

Wise  and  righteous  leadership  is  needed  in  the  crisis  that  con- 
fronts us.  Will  this  Federation  supply  the  leadership?  It  is  com- 
petent.  Will  we  be  consecrated? 

As  the  outlook  is  revealed  it  seems  undeniable  that  we  will  fall 
far  short  of  a  realization  of  our  responsibility  and  of  our  power  if 
we  fail  to  take  advantage  of  the  inspiration  of  this  Conference  and 
resolve  before  we  part  to  provide  ways  and  means  to  make  the 
force  of  this  possible  Federation  efEective  in  the  settlement  of 
grave  moral  questions. 

Let  us  go  forth  like  an  army  with  banners,  loyal  to  our  King, 
"holding  fast  the  form  of  sound  words,"  "holding  forth  the  word 
of  life,"  and  holding  high,  above  every  symbol  of  difference,  the 
symbols  of  our  unity,  the  Cross  and  Crown  of  Christ,  the  signs  by 
which  righteousness  will  conquer  wrong  and  the  kingdom  of  this 
world  become  the  Kingdom  of  Our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  John  Baltzer,  D.D. 


To  speak  of  the  practical  results  of  a  movement  as  great  and 
important  as  that  of  this  gathering,  composed  of  honorable  and  dis- 
tingnished  representatives  of  so  many  Churches  in  the  Eepublic, 
may  seem  premature  and  prophetical  to-day.  Wait  until  the  waves 
resulting  from  this  movement  reach  the  shore,  and  then  add  a  new 
chapter  to  Church  History.  Nevertheless,  the  movement  has  begun. 
Let  it  be  like  the  winds  stirred  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  no  man  telling 
whence  they  come  and  whither  they  go.  We  are  aware  of  the  fact 
that  this  movement  is  born  out  of  the  love  of  Christ  and  His  Church 
and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

As  a  representative  of  the  German  Evangelical  Synod  of  North 
America,  I  may  state  that  the  object  and  aim  of  this  movement 
has  met  with  the  heartiest  sjnnpathy  on  the  part  of  the  members 
of  my  denomination.     We  are  governed  by  the  motto    (Ephes. 


490  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

4 :  3-6)  :  "Endeavoring  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond 
of  peace.  One  body,  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  ye  are  called  in  one 
hope  of  your  calling;  One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism.  One  God 
and  Father  of  all.  Who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  you  all." 
We  stand  a  union  of  men  in  the  faith  of  our  fathers,  with  the 
preparation  of  the  Gospel  of  peace,  preaching  in  the  tongue  of  our 
mothers,  and  the  language  of  our  beloved  country.  Our  creed  bases 
itself  upon  the  fundamental  truths  established  by  the  enlightened 
leaders  and  chosen  vessels  of  the  Eeformation.  We  overlook  their 
difference  in  opinion  upon  dogmatical  questions,  but  preserve  the 
liberty  of  conscience  governed  by  Scripture.  The  established  union 
of  these  two  branches  of  the  German  Church  of  the  Eeformation, 
the  Lutheran  and  the  Reformed,  proclaimed  by  King  Frederick 
William  III.  of  Prussia  in  1817,  is  by  our  fathers  transplanted  to 
this  glorious  country,  and  with  a  strong  belief  in  its  final  cause 
upheld  by  us,  their  sons.  How  could  we  but  greet  with  heart  and 
soul  any  movement  toward  the  establishment  of  a  universal  evan- 
gelical Protestant  Church  ?  We  well  understand  that  this  body  is 
not  moving  for  unity  in  creed  or  government,  but  for  cooperative 
work  and  effort. 

First  in  the  important  results  to  be  expected  from  this  Federa- 
tion is  fellowsliip,  not  between  individuals,  but  between  the  Prot- 
estant Churches  of  the  country,  as  such.  Our  hearts  awakened  to 
grateful  and  sympathetic  response  when  at  the  opening  session  the 
queen  of  musical  instruments,  the  great  organ  yonder,  at  the  master- 
ful bidding  of  Mr.  Gibson,  burst  forth  in  the  majestic  strains  of 
"Ein  Feste  Burg,"  etc. 

It  is  the  birthday  song  of  the  Protestant,  the  Evangelical 
Church,  whose  children  and  grandchildren  are  assembled  here 
to-day.  It  reminded  me  of  those  great  historical  days  when  the 
restoration  of  the  Apostolic  Church  took  place  under  the  war  cry 
and  peace-melody  of  Salvation  in  Christ  only,  and  when  the  open- 
ing Scripture  Lesson,  Eph.  4  :  1-6,  happened  to  be  the  very  motto 
of  the  German  Evangelical  Synod,  we,  the  representatives  of  that 
Church,  felt  and  knew  with  you,  our  English  speaking  brethren, 
that  we  are  one  in  Jesus  Christ. 

The  practical  result  therefore  to  the  members  of  the  German 
Evangelical  Synod  of  ISTorth  America  shall  be  that  we  go  home  and 
proclaim  with  conviction  in  our  pulpits  and  our  press :  The  unity 
in  Christ  of  the  Evangelical  Churches  of  this  Republic  is  not  a 
fiction  but  a  fact. 


RESULTS   EXPECTED    FROM    FEDERATION  491 

We  will  tell  our  good,  honest,  church  loving.  Christian  Germans 
that  the  church  loving,  big-hearted,  broad-minded  Brother  Jonathan 
is  our  brother. 

The  flock  of  Christ  is  one  under  the  great  Chief  Shepherd, 
Christ.  The  flock  is  fed  on  the  one  food,  the  truth  of  Redemption 
in  Christ  Jesus,  and  this  food  is  taken  out  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus. 
We  are  becoming  fully  conscious  of  our  consanguinity  in  the  blood 
of  Christ.  This  means  to  us  at  the  present  time  a  great  step  for- 
ward to  fellowship.  And  this  fellowship  paves  the  way  for  cooper- 
ation, far-reaching  in  its  efforts,  along  the  lines  of  mutual  interests. 
At  present  this  movement  has  drawn  into  its  circle  a  number  of 
Protestant  denominations,  who  follow  every  step  with  the  greatest 
interest.  Questions  of  world-wide  importance  have  been  and  are 
being  discussed  before  this  body.  Men  of  very  different  dogmatic 
standing  prove,  perhaps  along  different  lines,  that  the  essentials  of 
a  Christian  community  or  State  are  to  be  found  in  Christian  edu- 
cation in  the  nurser}%  at  home,  in  Sunday  and  week-day  schools, 
in  seminaries  and  colleges.  Christ,  His  teachings,  and  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Apostles  with  regard  to  the  Father  and  the  Spirit,  are 
the  foundation  rod-  upon  which  we  are  to  build  the  edifice  of  edu- 
cation, without  fear  of  structural  weakness.  The  practical  result 
of  this  universally  acknowledged  truth  would  be  to  open  channels 
for  an  everyday  religious  instruction,  accessible  to  every  child  and 
youth  of  the  country.  If  every  Church  in  its  foreign  mission  effort 
finds  itself  in  duty  bound  to  educate  its  adherents,  both  old  and 
young,  in  schools  of  Christian  religious  instruction,  is  the  home 
Church  justified  in  neglecting  her  own  children  and  depriving  them 
of  a  thorough,  systematic  religious  instruction  ?  I  think  not !  The 
statement  of  the  Assistant  Prosecuting  Attorney  of  the  State  of 
Missouri,  made  at  a  Sunday  School  Convention  in  my  Church  this 
past  summer,  to  the  effect  that  the  percentage  of  crime  committing 
persons  of  both  sexes  who  knew  nothing  of  the  Decalogue,  and  even 
nothing  of  the  Living  God,  was  astonishingly  large,  rings  in  my 
ears  to  this  day.  More  and  better  religious  instruction  is  necessary. 
That  such  religious  instruction  cannot  and  should  not  be  included 
in  the  course  of  studies  offered  in  our  grammar  schools,  I  admit. 
But  would  a  strong,  persistent  agitation  to  grant  an  hour  a  day  for 
this  cause  not  find  the  support  of  the  most  influential  and  best  class 
of  our  citizens  ?  A  morning  hour  deducted  from  the  public  school 
time,  utilized  for  religious  instruction,  will  bear  a  greater  interest 
to  family,  Church  and  State  than  hours  to  the  pursuit  of  studies 


«W  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

of  questionable  practical  value.  A  practical  result  of  this  Confer- 
ence would  therefore  be  to  set  a  movement  on  foot,  treating  re- 
ligious education,  not  as  an  "ars  libera,"  but  as  an  "ars  necessaria." 
The  indispensable  feeling  of  duty  toward  the  neighbor,  and  the 
knowledge  of  accountableness  to  the  Judge  of  Judges  are  the  only 
solution  for  questions  arising  between  capital  and  labor,  in  war  and 
peace,  family  life  and  citizenship.  A  practical  result  of  this  con- 
ference concerning  these  questions  would  be  a  pledge  to  cooperative 
work  along  the  lines  of  religious  instruction  in  school,  home,  pulpit, 
periodicals  and  press. 

Why  do  all  Protestant  Churches  endeavor  to  unite?  We  all 
know  that  the  enemies  of  Protestant  Churches  are  well  organized 
units  of  unbelievers,  superstitious  and  heterodox.  We  recognize 
their  aim  in  the  destruction  of  the  Church,  and  therewith  imperil- 
ling the  foundations  of  the  State.  A  practical  result  of  this  Con- 
ference would  therefore  be  an  expression,  as  never  before,  of  the 
substantial  uniiy  of  the  Protestant  Churches  of  the  country.  This 
visible  expression  of  unity  will  emphasize  the  need  and  opportunity 
for  cooperation  in  securing  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the 
entire  nation.  United  we  stand  alone,  and  divided  we  strand. 
Shall  we  wait  until  those  dark  forces  drive  the  scattered  troops  of 
the  Protestant  Church  into  one  army  ?  It  is  far  more  practical  to 
heed  the  spirit  bidding  us  join  hands,  and  to  collect  the  rank  and 
file  of  all  Protestant  denominations  into  one  unconquerable  army 
of  outspoken  followers,  under  the  generalship  of  Christ  Jesus,  in 
anity  of  spirit  and  peace. 

Two  great  evils  confronting  us  daily,  undermining  family  and 
State,  are  the  laxity  in  administering  and  making  oath  and  in 
regard  to  laws  concerning  marriage  and  divorce.  A  united  appeal 
of  this  assembly  to  the  respective  legislative  bodies  of  the  States, 
calling  for  a  greater  respect  toward  the  oath  in  the  courtroom  and 
elsewhere,  and  demanding  more  common  and  stringent  marriage 
laws,  guarding  both  the  contracting  and  dissolving  of  marriage, 
would  meet  with  the  approval  of  every  respectable  citizen,  and 
would  be  looked  upon  as  a  tangible  result  of  this  Conference.  The 
Church  has  reasons  to  lament  the  carelessness  with  which  the  ad- 
ministering and  making  of  an  oath  is  practiced.  Let  it  be  the  re- 
quired duty  of  judges  to  explain  the  meaning  of  an  oath  before 
taking  testimony.  National  and  rigid  marriage  laws  would 
diminish  the  abnormal  number  of  shameful  divorce  cases  daily 
brought  to  our  notice  by  the  press. 


RESULTS   EXPECTED    FROM   FEDERATION  493 

In  the  field  of  missionary  and  evangelistic  work  we  may  look  for 
practical  results.  Every  true  Christian  must  be  a  friend  of  mission 
work,  and  feel  in  duty  bound  to  support  it  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 
Likewise  every  denomination  recognizes  the  necessity  of  obedience 
to  the  Master's  command :  "Go  ye  therefore  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  all  nations."  At  the  same  time  the  desire  to  preserve  itself  and 
expand  and  grow  is  a  motive  which  is  legitimate  and  must  be  re- 
spected among  all  denominations.  In  small  and  thinly  settled 
communities  especially  it  is  of  far  greater  advantage  that  the  num- 
ber of  denominations  engaged  in  missionary  work  be  limited.  This 
would  make  the  speedy  organization  of  self-supporting  congrega- 
tions possible  and  would  do  away  with  having,  as  is  often  the  case, 
small  Churches  of  various  denominations,  one  trying  to  outstrip  the 
other,  and  neither  of  them  strong  enough  to  be  of  actual  service 
to  the  community  in  which  they  are  located.  The  elimination  of 
this  obvious  hindrance  to  effective  mission  work  would  greatly  bene- 
fit the  cause  of  evangelization,  and  would  remove  one  of  the  great- 
est sources  of  secret  and  open  reproach  among  the  opponents  of  a 
united  Protestant  Church.  Likewise,  articles  appearing  in  religious 
periodicals  criticising  other  denominations,  sometimes  even  ridi- 
culing certain  devotional  practices  which  may  be  characteristic  of  a 
particular  denomination,  remarks  made  by  pastors  in  and  outside 
of  their  pulpits,  calculated  to  bring  public  opinion  to  the  point  of 
criticism,  are  exceedingly  harmful  to  the  welfare  of  the  Protestant 
Church,  and  must  give  offense  to  well-meaning  Christian  lay  mem- 
bers. The  treatment  of  creed  and  dogma  by  professors  of  theology 
should  not  be  polemical  in  character,  but  should  be  impartial  and 
characterized  by  a  feeling  of  tolerance  and  respect  for  the  brother's 
opinion. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  we  are  now  gathered  in  council  to 
deliberate  whether  we  may  meet  with  an  army  of  ten  thousand,  the 
enemy,  who  is  prepared  to  strike  with  twenty  thousand.  Let  us 
consider  whether  we  are  ready  and  have  the  means  to  build  that 
tower  upon  the  one  'Tlock  of  Ages."  As  long  as  there  are  in  God's 
City  a  number  of  unfinished  towers  and  heaps  of  rubbish,  so  long 
will  her  enemies  remain  unconvinced  that  this  City  is  an  impreg- 
nable fortress.  Our  opponents  are  perfectly  justified  in  openly  or 
secretly  sneering  at  us  if  we,  on  the  one  hand,  strive  to  unite  in 
work  and  principle  on  the  Apostolic  motto,  "Have  unity  in  the 
Spirit  and  peace,"  but  on  the  other  hand  spend  our  best  energies 
in  maintaining  strife  and  dissension. 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  Amort  H.  Bradford,  D.D. 


"It  is  the  business  of  philosophy,"  among  other  things,  "to  an- 
swer the  question — for  what  may  we  hope?" — was  a  saying  of 
Immanuel  Kant.  But  hope  is  one  thing  and  expectation  is  an- 
other. It  would  be  far  easier  for  me  to  state  my  hopes  as  to  the 
results  of  this  Convention  than  my  expectations.  Disguise  the 
fact  as  we  may,  the  movement  toward  Federation  has  made  com- 
paratively little  progress.  A  few  persons  have  risen  high  enough 
really  to  desire  its  success,  but  the  majority  in  the  Churches  are 
in  a  state  worse  than  active  opposition,  because  they  are  lethargic. 
Sentimentally  they  favor  Federation;  practically  they  care  not  a 
button  about  it.  The  masses  even  of  Church  members  are  not  easily 
inspired  about  anything  except  business  and  politics. 

My  first  remark  is  this :  The  value  of  this  Congress  ought  to 
be  judged  by  its  remote  rather  than  its  immediate  results.  Its 
immediate  results  will,  probably,  be  disappointing.  It  will  be 
followed  by  a  reaction,  as  such  reforms  usually  are.  In  all  progress 
there  is  an  ebb  and  flow  like  that  of  the  tides.  Emerson  once 
said  that  the  test  of  a  leader  is  his  ability  to  bring  men  to  his  way 
of  thinking  twenty  years  later.  Next  year,  or  the  next  five  years, 
may  offer  few  signs  of  encouragement;  but  after  twenty  years  the 
harvest  of  the  seed  here  sown  will  be  visible.  The  analogy  of 
similar  efforts  does  not  prophesy  immediate  results. 

My  second  remark  is  that  the  experiment  in  Great  Britain 
can  teach  us  little  except  the  fact  that  Federation  is  possible.  The 
Welsh  revival  would  be  an  impossibility  in  most  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  so  would  the  Federation  of  Evangelical  Free  Churches. 
The  territory  there  is  small ;  ours  is  vast.  They  have  in  the  State- 
Church  a  near  and  imperative  issue  which  makes  their  cause  both 
political  and  religious.  The  struggle  for  existence  compels  them  to 
be  vigilant  as  well  as  vigorous.    Our  issues  are  spiritual. 

Our  distances  and  diverse  circumstances  have  caused  some 
even  to  raise  the  inquiry  whether  a  National  Federation  which 
should  be  the  outgrowth  of  previously  existing  State  Federations 
which  had  already  succeeded  would  not  give  more  promise  of  im- 
mediate victory  than  the  one  which  is  represented  in  this  Con- 
ference which  is  attempting  maturity  almost  without  any  youth. 
The  British  Federation  is  national  in  a  limited  territory;  it  faces 

494 


RESULTS   EXPECTED    FROM    FEDERATION  495 

the  Establishment;  a  hostile  party,  with  its  iniquitous  education 
acts,  opposes  it  at  every  step.  Nothing  unites  like  opposition.  We 
have  to  meet  lethargy,  but  no  opposition.  The  splendid  experiment 
across  the  water,  which  is  no  longer  an  experiment,  teaches  us  that 
Federation  under  certain  circumstances  is  a  possibility ;  in  other  re- 
spects it  will  help  us  but  little  here.  American  problems  cannot 
be  solved  by  English  methods. 

I  will  now  indicate  a  few  results  which  may  be  expected  to 
follow  from  this  Congress : 

I.  Denominationalists  will  be  placed  in  an  attitude  of  apology. 
They  will  be  ashamed  of  themselves.  They  may  continue  to  assume 
an  air  of  bravado,  but  it  will  be  like  a  mask  which  is  too  small  for 
the  wearer.  Sectarianism  will  appear  all  around  it  in  spite  of  efforts 
at  concealment.  When  a  man  has  to  apologize  for  his  cause,  he 
works  with  little  enthusiasm,  and  less  efficiency.  These  meetings 
will  be  a  tangible  example  of  the  possibility  of  cooperation  among 
the  Churches.  "United  efforts  are  impossible  in  our  community, 
we  are  so  peculiar,"  Baptists,  Presbyterians,  Congregationalists, 
Episcopalians  will  insist,  but  when  Christians  of  a  larger  type  point 
to  this  Convention  and  say,  "All  these  varieties  of  people  worked 
and  worshipped  together  there,"  our  militant  denominationalists 
will  be  sadly  disturbed  to  find  an  answer.  Sectarianism  in  the 
future  will  have  to  justify  its  existence. 

II.  While  the  growth  of  Federation  will  be  slow,  it  wiU  be 
sure.  It  will  be  sure  because  no  reasonable  argument  can  be  offered 
against  it.  It  recognizes  and  honors  differences  while  it  unites 
those  who  differ  on  the  needs  of  our  common  humanity,  and  the 
call  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  A  movement  for  organic  union  would 
fail  because  it  would  ask  subscription  to  a  common  creed,  worship 
according  to  common  rubrics  and  require  obedience  to  a  central 
authority.  The  days  of  authority  in  the  Church  are  gone  forever 
by.  The  spirit  of  man  has  at  last  won  its  freedom.  It  will  never 
again  submit  to  any  kind  of  human  dictation.  Men  will  think  and 
act  as  they  believe  themselves  to  be  divinely  led.  They  will  differ 
in  the  future  more  than  in  the  past,  for  they  will  think  more 
universally,  and,  as  a  whole,  more  profoundly.  This  movement 
will  grow  because  it  recognizes  the  inevitability  of  this  liberty. 
We  shall  not  think  alike,  we  shall  not  worship  in  the  same  liturgy, 
but  we  shall  all  work  together  for  the  Kingdom  of  Q-od  according 
to  our  individualities.     If  there  ever  should  be  an  effort  to  force 


496  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

upon  these  various  bodies  of  Christians  a  common  creed  or  form 
of  worship,  it  would  be  divisive;  but  he  who  may  open  a  new  oppor- 
tunity for  mutual  helpfulness  will  bind  them  more  closely  together. 
The  service  of  man  is  the  worship  of  God.  This  cause  will  grow 
because  it  guards  individual  and  denominational  liberty,  and  be- 
cause its  members  are  united  in  the  bonds  of  a  common  service. 

III.  This  Congress  will  put  a  new  emphasis  upon  the  weak- 
ness of  organization  and  tlie  mightiness  of  spirit.  The  whole 
Church  has  not  yet  learned  that  its  progress  will  never  be  by  might 
or  by  power,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Most  of  us  have  more 
faith  in  the  wheels  than  in  the  Spirit  within  the  wheels — in  the 
Church  than  in  inspiration.  Many  have  come  to  this  Federation 
meeting  with  a  secret  feeling  that  at  the  end  the  superiority  of 
their  puny  denomination  will  be  increasingly  evident.  There  is, 
even  yet,  little  that  is  universal  and  elemental  in  our  visions  or  our 
plans.  Most  of  us  are  still  provincial  in  our  religious  beliefs  and 
practices. 

In  Frederick  Bobertson's  church  in  Brighton  is  a  window  de- 
scribing Jesus  disputing  with  the  doctors  in  the  Temple.  This 
inscription  is  on,  or  near,  the  window:  "They  were  thinking  of 
theology:  He  was  thinking  of  God."  And  we  have  come  up  to 
these  spiritual  heights  thinking  of  theology  and  of  Churches,  and 
planning  to  tinker  ecclesiastical  machinery,  while  outside  and  be- 
yond sweep  the  cosmic  tides  of  the  Divine  purpose. 

The  greatest  blessing  of  this  Congress  will  probably  be  its  com- 
parative failure.  We  have  sung  the  same  hymns  and  some  of  the 
best  have  been  by  authors  whom  we  would  not  aUow  to  sit  in  this 
Conference;  we  have  studied  the  same  high  themes,  but  our  the- 
ological convictions  are  unchanged;  we  have  prayed  together,  and 
felt  the  joy  of  fellowship ;  at  the  end  we  may  pass  some  very  earnest 
resolutions.  What  then?  We  shall  have  stimulated  a  little  the 
growth  of  a  good  cause,  but  what  will  such  results  be  when  com- 
pared with  what  ought  to  have  been  achieved?  Five  years  from 
now  the  world  will  not  be  very  different  from  what  it  would  have 
heen  if  this  Congress  had  never  been  held.  And  yet  it  will  not 
have  been  in  vain,  for  it  will  have  made  the  sin  of  a  divided  Chris- 
tendom to  appear  more  appalling,  and  the  importance  of  unity  that 
shall  be  vital,  pervasive,  and  enduring,  more  imperative. 

It  will  adjourn  without  having  brought  the  masses  of  American 


RESULTS    EXPECTED    FROM    FEDERATION  497 

Christians  much  nearer  together,  and  thereby  it  will  show  thut 
what  divides  is  mechanical  and  ephemeral,  like  the  mud  fences  in 
India  which  disappear  when  the  harvest  has  grown.  Its  apparent 
failure  will  show  that  vital  and  lasting  unity  is  to  be  found  only 
as  we  attain  unto  harmony  with  Him  who  has  a  place  in  His  provi- 
dence for  all  classes,  all  colors.,  all  races,  all  creeds,  all  phases  of 
religion,  all  eccentricities  of  belief  and  worship,  all  gifts  of  speech 
and  service;  and  who  by  the  use  of  them  all,  in  no  narrow  and 
provincial  way,  but  in  accordance  with  laws  wide  as  the  universe 
and  enduring  as  eternity,  is  bringing  the  Kingdom  of  God. 


A  UNITED  CHURCH  AND  EVANGELIZATION 


THE   EVANGELIZATION    OF  AMERICAN,  CITIES 


The  Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.D. 


The  Christian  faith  confronts  a  new  civilization.     Whatever  its 
conquests  in  the  heathen  world,  the  Gospel  will  have  won  its  com- 
plete triumph  only  when  it  has  tamed  the  mighty  forces  which  it 
has  itself  freed  and  has  brought  them  into  obedience  to  Jesus 
Christ.     The  material  basis  of  civilization  is  new.     The  applica- 
tion to  life  of  the  marvellous  forces  of  nature  has  reconstructed 
and    refurnished   the   house    in   which   the   race    dwells.     Indus- 
try is  reorganized.     Flax  is  still  flax,  but  the  whirring  factory's 
million  spindles  replace  the  spinning  wheels  of  quiet  rural  homes. 
The  principle  of  the  lever  has  not  changed,  but  the  spade  and  the 
crowbar  have  been  succeeded  by  the  dredge  and  the  machine  shop. 
The  intellectual  viewpoint  is  new.     The  enterprise  of  mind  is  cease- 
less, but  realms  newly  exploited  have  congested  the  marts  of  thought, 
and  our  mental  commerce  is  dealing  with  new  symbols,  new  trade- 
marks, new  credits  and  new  values.     A  new  social  order  is  emerg- 
ing.    The  individualistic  philosophy  gives  place  to  the  communal. 
The  discussion  of  man  is  not  neglected,  but  the  emphasis  is  upon 
man,  and  the  other  man.     That  other  man  may  be  neighbor,  citi- 
zen, workman,  employer;  he  may  be  Mongol,  Latin,  Czech,  Slav; 
forth  he  stands  as  friend,  foe,  menace,  opportunity,  but  of  him  the 
new  social  order  takes  significant  account.     The  concepts  of  the 
faith  are  new.     The  Christ  of  the  Yesterday,  of  the  To-day,  of  the 
Forever,  is  the  same.     But  the  atmosphere  through  which  men  see 
Him  is  new,  the  life  in  which  He  moves  is  not  the  life  of  Galilee. 
The  circle  of  that  life  He  filled :  the  greater  circle  of  this  larger  life 
He  fills.     He  commands  us  because  no  circle  outrims  Him.     He  is 
changeless  in  that  the  amazing  world-life  to-day  has  not  taken  Him 
by  surprise.     But  because  men  have  not  thus  seen  Him,  because 
they  have  belittled  His  purpose,  have  left  Him  in  the  garden  tomb, 
have  accepted  not  Himself  but  His  influence,  have  believed  not  in 
His  Gospel  but  in  its  effects,  in  its  philosophy  but  not  in  its  power, 
the  life  of  to-day  is  penetrated  everywhere  by  impulses  and  by  forces 
which  are  the  imrecognized  fruits  of  the  very  Gospel  which  multi- 
tudes in  this  restless  age  are  not  unwilling  to  patronize,  to  misin- 
terpret or  to  ignore.     Here  is  a  realm  for  conquest,  not  heathen, 
not  pagan,  not  un-Christian ;  but  one  that  knows  not  Christ  nor 

501 


502  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

acclaims  nor  obeys  Him  as  Lord  of  Life  and  as  Redeemer  of  the 
race.  It  is  a  new  civilization,  new  in  its  material  basis,  in  its  in- 
dustry, in  its  social  order,  in  its  intellectual  viewpoint,  in  its  re- 
ligious concepts.  Influences  are  at  work  which  are  changing  the 
face,  if  not  the  heart,  of  the  world.  A  crisis  for  the  individual  and 
society  is  created  which  lifts  these  early  years  of  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury to  the  level  of  the  great  epochs — the  invasion  of  Gothic 
hordes,  the  Crusades,  the  revival  of  learning,  the  discovery  of  print- 
ing and  of  a  continent.  Wise  men  are  silenced  not  alone  by  the 
complexity,  but  by  the  unexpectedness  of  their  problems.  Heroism 
to-day  meets  not  only  the  test  of  courage,  but  of  surprise.  Great 
indeed  will  be  the  gain  if  from  these  days  of  Conference,  vital  with 
the  forces  of  the  living  faith  of  American  Christianity,  we  may  go 
forth  conscious  that  that  faith  confronts  the  civilization  not  of  a 
hundred,  of  fifty,  of  ten  years  ago,  but  a  civilization  strange,  ardent, 
expectant,  progressive,  and  in  its  progress  listening  for  the  new  call 
from  above,  eager  for  the  new  spirit  which  shall  inform  and 
master  it. 

Of  this  new  civilization  the  city  is  the  centre.  The  forces  of 
nature,  trained  to  service,  converge  upon  it.  The  materials  and 
methods  of  industry  demand  it.  The  confluence  of  nations  is  at  its 
gate.  To  it  learning  brings  her  problems ;  in  its  libraries  and  uni- 
versities, in  its  treasures  of  art  and  of  science,  finds  her  resources ; 
in  its  attrition  and  concentration  becomes  conscious  of  her  power 
and  her  mission.  The  city  is  the  test  and  the  opportunity  of  mind. 
In  the  city  the  problems  of  the  social  order  become  acute,  and  there 
reach  the  beginnings  of  their  solution.  What  a  man  is,  in  his 
rights,  in  his  aims,  in  his  equipment;  what  he  owns,  his  labor,  his 
property,  his  reputation;  what  the  community  asks  of  him  in  per- 
sonal and  property  surrender,  in  sacrifice  of  privilege,  of  direct 
service  for  the  commonwealth;  under  what  laws,  natural  or  arti- 
ficial, the  quest  for  bread,  the  conduct  of  trade,  the  education  of 
childhood,  the  maintenance  of  the  home,  are  to  be  guaranteed ;  how 
he  is  to  be  free  though  governed,  and  governed  though  free;  how, 
out  of  racial  frictions  the  personal  life  shall  survive ;  how  he  shall 
be  his  own  and  his  brother's  keeper,  and  shall  find  the  Master's 
answer  to  the  question.  Who  is  my  neighbor? — these,  the  social 
problems  of  the  world,  are  condensed,  defined,  formulated,  vitalized 
in  the  life  of  the  city.  Here  religion  finds  its  test,  its  travail,  its 
triumph.  Can  the  Gospel  be  commercialized?  The  city  will  give 
reply.     Is  there  power  in  spiritual  motive  to  deal  with  materialism, 


EVANGELIZATION    OF    AMERICAN    CITIES  503 

with  goods,  with  recreation,  with  luxury?  The  city  is  the  final 
test.  Do  truth  and  righteousness  belong  to  the  realm  of  fancy,  or 
are  they  the  pillars  of  human  Bociety,  of  the  home,  of  the  com- 
munity, of  organized  government?  The  ultimate  demonstration  is 
in  the  city.  Has  Christ  a  place  among  men,  not  alone  for  blessed 
walks  with  disciples  in  quiet  roadways,  but  for  breaking  bread  for 
hungry  multitudes?  Let  the  city  answer.  The  city  is  more  than 
the  hotbed  of  revolution ;  it  is  the  fiery  furnace  for  the  test  of  faith ; 
it  is  more  than  the  Hope  of  Democracy,  as  some  one  has  recently 
called  it;  it  is  the  ultimate  arena  of  the  successive  conflicts  of  the 
Christian  Faith  with  the  Power  of  the  World. 

If  the  new  civilization  is  to  be  mastered  by  Christ,  the  city  must 
be  taken  for  Him.  A  scheme  of  campaign  which  plans  only  to 
ravage  remote  fields  and  to  capture  defenseless  towns  and  leaves 
untouched  the  heart  of  empire  would  give  men  exercise  at  arms 
and  increase  their  tactical  skill,  but  would  bring  neither  the  full 
glory  nor  the  final  conquest.  A  method  of  treatment  which  de- 
scribes and  alleviates,  which  dulls  the  pain  or  quiets  the  spasm,  or 
halts  the  fever,  may  encourage  hope  and  increase  fees,  but  this  new 
civilization  can  be  controlled  only  when  the  burning,  passionate 
heart  of  it  is  reached,  and  out  of  the  city  to  the  remotest  hamlet  of 
the  land,  the  warm,  pure  life  pulses  steady,  strong  and  full.  The 
nation  may  strengthen  its  commerce,  perfect  its  policies,  build  large 
and  strong  its  ships,  discipline  its  armies;  its  destiny — who  cannot 
see  it  ? — will  still  be  wrapped  up  and  wrought  out  in  the  thronging 
life  of  the  cities.  The  Church  may  build  its  schools,  lift  towers  sym- 
metrical and  strong,  endow  its  vast  charities,  organize  ministry  into 
system,  and  harden  truth  into  symbol  and  creed,  and  still  it  will  be 
true  that  the  crowd,  the  seething,  restless  crowd  of  the  cities,  deter- 
mines the  future.  Writes  Josiah  Strong,  who  by  his  pen  and  voice 
at  the  threshold  of  this  age  stirred  the  sleeping  conscience  of  the 
Church :  "The  city  is  to  control  the  nation ;  Christianity  must  con- 
trol the  city ;  and  it  will.  It  is  yet  to  be  the  city  of  the  great  King. 
The  first  city  was  built  by  the  first  murderer,  and  crime  and  vice 
and  wretchedness  have  festered  in  it  ever  since.  But  into  the  last 
city  shall  enter  nothing  that  defileth,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more 
sorrow  or  crying,  for  the  former  things  shall  have  passed  away." 
Shelley  said,  "Hell  is  a  city  much  like  London";  but  the  city  re- 
deemed is,  in  the  vision  of  the  revelator,  "the  symbol  of  heaven, 
heaven  on  earth — the  kingdom  fully  come."  Said  another  in  a 
book  whose  influence  grows  with  the  Church's  growing  conscious- 


504  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

ness  of  duty.  Canon  Fremantle:  "It  is  a  vain  thing  to  go  back 
upon  human  progress.  The  industrial  revolution  which  has  made 
our  great  cities,  and  which  through  them  supplies  the  needs  of 
mankind,  is  part  of  God's  Providence;  and  what  we  have  to  do,  the 
real  task  of  our  generation,  is  to  face  the  problems  which  city  life 
presents,  applying  to  them  the  light  which  the  Bible  gives  us,  and 
determining  that,  so  far  as  in  us  lies,  and  by  the  power  of  God  and 
of  Christ,  London  and  New  York  shall  not  be  as  Babylon,  but  a? 
the  New  Jerusalem." 

In  the  presence  of  this  supreme  task,  the  evangelization  of  the 
cities,  the  Church  of  America,  as  represented  here,  may  take  coun- 
sel, not  indeed  without  conviction,  but  without  despair.  In  the  life 
of  the  past  twenty  years  some  striking  changes  have  come  to  both 
the  spirit  and  the  method  of  the  Church.  Perhaps  the  most  signifi- 
cant is  its  confident  acceptance  of  its  social  mission.  To-day  the 
Church  which  does  not  concern  itself  with  present  conditions  of  life 
is  obsolete.  We  are  too  near  the  facts  rightly  to  measure  the  devel- 
opment of  the  new  spirit  of  ministration  in  the  Church  at  large, 
but  its  expression  in  concrete  form  is  all  about  us.  Parochial 
agencies  have  vastly  multiplied.  Organizations  within  the  Church 
or  auxiliary  to  it  have  afforded  opportunity  for  every  kind  of  ser- 
vice to  all  classes  in  the  community.  Church  houses,  settlements, 
clubs  for  men,  for  women,  for  boys,  for  girls,  day  nurseries,  kinder- 
gartens, fresh  air  camps  and  cottages,  educational  classes,  industrial 
schools,  systematic  visitation,  the  circulation  of  literature,  medical 
attendance,  aids  to  self-help — a  glance  reveals  the  new  life  of  the 
organized  Churches.  Beyond  them  and  acting  with  them  are 
mighty  agencies — the  Young  People's  societies,  the  deaconess  order, 
with  its  remarkable  development  in  several  communions;  the 
kindergarten  system,  with  its  incalculable  influence  upon  childhood ; 
the  brotherhoods,  the  associations  for  charity,  the  rescue  missions 
and  special  missions  to  the  peoples  of  foreign  tongues.  Denomina- 
tional organizations  for  city  missionary  work  are  now  potent  factors 
in  the  enterprise  of  the  Church.  Whether  local  or  national — a 
committee  of  presbytery,  a  diocesan  society,  a  combination  of  inde- 
pendent Churches,  or  a  National  Union  for  City  Evangelization — 
they  have  the  same  function,  to  bring  Christ  to  the  people  in  the 
cities,  by  building  new  churches,  renewing  the  old,  and  by  ever\' 
kind  of  method  reaching  the  unsaved  with  the  invitation,  the  warn- 
ing and  the  ministration  of  the  Gospel.  Never  was  the  Church  in 
the  city  so  ingenious  in  invention,  so  convinced  of  its  mission,  so 


EVANGELIZATION    OF    AMERICAN    CITIES  505 

industrious  in  its  devotion.  The  messengers  of  God's  grace, 
equipped  with  resources  and  training,  backed  by  the  convictions  and 
purpose  of  the  great  body  of  believers  as  never  before,  are  abroad 
among  the  thronging  crowds  of  our  great  cities  in  larger  numbers, 
with  clearer  intelligence  and  with  far  greater  effectiveness  than  ever 
in  the  Church's  history.  The  new  civilization  has  not  robbed  us  of 
our  saints  and  heroes;  in  the  records  of  our  American  cities  is 
written  the  name  of  many  a  martyr  of  the  Cross. 

But  if  there  need  be  no  despairing  note  on  this  platform,  there 
must  be  no  shrinking  from  the  truth.  The  evangelization  of  the 
city  can  be  no  mere  incident  in  the  Church's  programme.  Con- 
sider for  a  moment  the  tremendous  import  of  the  opportunity. 

We  are  in  the  nation's  metropolis.  Here  are  over  four  millions 
of  people.  Since  1900,  five  years,  six  hundred  thousand  have  been 
added  to  our  numbers — a  city  larger  than  Baltimore  or  Brussels, 
Manchester  or  Naples.  Imagine  New  England  swept  clean  of  its 
population.  Let  the  inhabitants  of  New  York  City  move  out  upon 
that  great  railroad  which  connects  this  city  with  New  England. 
From  that  throng  every  city,  great  and  small,  from  Mount  Vernon 
to  Boston,  including  the  cluster  of  cities  about  the  latter,  might 
be  repeopled ;  then  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Ehode  Island 
and  Connecticut  could  be  supplied,  and  enough  would  remain  to 
replace  the  population  of  every  one  of  the  seven  great  manufactur- 
ing cities  of  Massachusetts.  Trace  our  commerce  to  foreign  ports. 
Eleven  of  them  must  be  massed  together  to  equal  the  population 
now  within  these  metropolitan  limits — Glasgow,  Liverpool,  Man- 
chester, Copenhagen,  Antwerp,  Bremen,  Hamburg,  Havre,  Mar- 
seilles, Lisbon,  Genoa.  The  rate  of  metropolitan  growth  is  such 
that  it  will  with  little  doubt  in  a  dozen  years  carry  the  figures 
beyond  those  of  greater  London  and  make  this  city  in  population, 
as  it  surely  will  be  in  commercial  power,  the  ranking  city  of  the 
world.  The  people  in  our  six  cities  of  five  hundred  thousand  in- 
habitants and  over  equal  the  total  number  who  dwell  in  the  seven- 
teen great  States  and  Territories  west  of  longitude  97 — the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  excluding  Texas. 

That  the  urban  population  is  now  one-third  of  the  whole  is  in 
itself  sufficiently  startling.  But  this  condition  is  not  stationary. 
It  is  not  a  quiet  sea  with  gentle  lift  and  fall ;  it  is  a  current,  flow- 
ing steadily,  ever  deeper,  ever  wider.  The  speed  at  which  this 
stream  of  human  life  sets  toward  the  cities  slackened  during  the 
past  decade.     Yet  the  ratio  of  increase,  twenty-one  per  cent,  for  the 


506  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

entire  population  and  thirt3'-seven  per  cent,  for  the  urban  popula- 
tion, is  ominous.  On  the  Atlantic  seaboard  only  three  States  out 
of  nine  are  left  with  a  majority  of  their  people  outside  the  cities. 
Of  every  hundred  persons  added  during  the  decade,  fifty-eight  are 
found  in  the  cities.  There  are  now  one  hundred  and  sixty  cities  of 
twenty-five  thousand  population  and  over,  a  net  gain  of  thirty-eight 
in  ten  years.  One  out  of  every  five  of  our  people  lives  in  such  a 
city.  Of  the  twenty  cities  of  the  first  rank  in  1800  but  one  reached 
a  population  of  over  sixty  thousand,  while  the  total  number  of  their 
inhabitants  was  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  Fifty  years 
later  there  were  six  cities  with  a  population  exceeding  one  hundred 
thousand,  with  a  total  for  the  twenty  principal  cities  of  one  million 
eight  hundred  thousand.  At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century 
we  have  thirty-eight  cities  of  one  hundred  thousand  population  and 
over,  of  which  the  first  twenty  contain  nearly  twelve  million  people. 
If  cities  of  one  hundred  thousand  as  a  minimum  be  classed  as  of 
the  first  rank,  our  country  waited  until  1820  for  its  first  one,  and  in 
it  at  that  time  123,700  people  dwelt,  1.28  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
population.  In  eighty  years  this  one  has  become  thirty-eight,  in 
which  are  now  found  over  fourteen  million,  or  18.62  per  cent,  of 
the  total  population. 

But  to  the  alarm  of  numbers  add  the  perplexity  of  kinds.  "A 
million  immigrants  a  year"  is  so  familiar  that  we  cease  to  under- 
stand what  it  means.  Eighty  languages  and  dialects  mingle  their 
alien  tones  in  the  great  chambers  of  the  gate  on  Ellis  Island.  In 
New  England's  "Puritan"  cities  seventy-five  to  eighty  persons  out 
of  every  hundred  are  foreign  born  or  the  children  of  foreign-born 
parents.  In  Chicago  forty  languages  are  spoken,  fourteen  by 
groups  of  ten  thousand  or  more  each.  In  this  city  we  have  found 
eighteen  languages  on  one  block.  There  is  here  an  Italian  city 
nearly  if  not  quite  as  large  as  Eome.  On  Manhattan  Island  every 
fourth  person  is  a  Hebrew,  Syrians,  Armenians  and  Greeks  are 
becoming  an  appreciable  element  in  the  population.  The  south  of 
Europe  is  everywhere  in  evidence.  The  dominant  class  in  immigra- 
tion is  no  longer  of  the  Baltic  type,  the  sturdy  children  of  Northern 
Europe,  but  of  the  Mediterranean,  with  discordant  traditions  and  a 
set  of  false  ideas,  which  even  in  free  air  do  not  evaporate  except  by 
slow  process.  To  the  ministries  of  our  Protestant  faith  great  sec- 
tions of  our  large  cities  seem  utterly  impregnable. 

But  to  the  perplexity  of  kinds  must  be  added  the  menace  of  con- 
ditions.    Poverty  is  in  the  cities.     A  parade  of  the  workless  would 


EVANGELIZATION    OF    AMERICAN    CITIES  507 

he  possible  in  every  great  city  of  America.  There  is  ever  danger 
of  hysteria  when  hunger  is  discussed,  but  even  if  it  should  prove 
that  not  quite  ten  millions  of  people  in  our  land  may  be  in  the  dis- 
tress of  poverty,  as  a  high  authority,  Eobert  Hunter,  says  that  they 
are ;  even  though  it  may  be  that  not  fully  one-third  of  the  people  of 
this  city  are  either  poor  or  on  the  verge  of  poverty,  so  that  cessation 
of  wages  for  two  weeks  would  force  them  upon  the  bounty  of  either 
public  or  private  charity,  as  that  apostle  to  the  poor,  Jacob  Riis, 
asserts,  yet  we  know  that  of  those  who  die  in  this  metropolis  one 
out  of  every  ten  is  buried  in  a  pauper's  grave.  Multitudes  are  con- 
tinually underfed.  Casual  workers  are  ever  increasing.  Our  hor- 
rible swarming  tenements  are  crowded  with  those  who  suffer  and 
starve. 

In  the  cities  vice  becomes  a  system  and  crime  is  indifferent  to 
law.  Custom  tolerates  what  conscience  condemns,  and  the  custo- 
dians of  authority  often  become  the  promoters  of  the  evil  they  are 
appointed  to  suppress.  The  ethical  sense  becomes  dull,  in  trade,  in 
social  life,  in  government,  and  in  the  absence  of  its  commands  dis- 
honesty, hypocrisy  and  falsehood  have  their  way.  In  this  vitiated 
social  atmosphere  lethargy  overtakes  even  a  man  of  good  purpose, 
and  behind  the  code  of  the  many  the  individual  conscience  hides 
and  gives  no  sign.  Childhood  in  the  cities  has  slight  chance.  The 
treasure  of  innocence  is  easily  stolen  in  the  playgrounds  of  the 
streets.  The  schools  suggest,  with  the  mental  training,  a  moral 
basis,  and  urge  the  disciphne  of  self-control,  but  for  the  most  part 
the  children  of  the  hovel  and  the  tenement  come  on  into  maturity 
with  no  conception  of  the  spiritual  realties  which  underlie  morals, 
and  with  no  sanction  for  conduct  but  custom  and  self-will.  By  the 
time  they  take  the  ballot  in  their  hands  or  assume  the  dignities  of 
a  household  they  become  opportunists  in  ethics.  It  is  a  hard  heart 
which  can  beat  unquickened  in  the  presence  of  the  religious  desti- 
tution of  the  childhood  of  our  great  cities. 

Before  this  alarm  of  numbers,  this  perplexity  of  kinds,  this 
menace  of  conditions,  the  faith  of  the  Church  has  sometimes  weak- 
ened, and  the  faint-hearted  have  turned  aside  to  easier  tasks.  But 
the  tides  of  purpose  are  lifting.  From  the  Church's  broader  life 
goes  forth  with  a  new  ardor  a  new  crusade  for  the  recovery  of  the 
Holy  City.  The  dream  of  a  united  Church  has  no  field  for  its 
actualization  nearer  or  more  appealing  than  our  great  American 
cities.  Nay,  more!  Before  their  swinging  gates  the  Dream  be- 
comes a  Duty.     Division  and  conflict  here  are  the  betrayal  of  a 


508  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

sacred  trust.  Here  mere  fraternal  complacency  is  but  the  power- 
less platitude  of  sentiment.  The  claim  of  the  crowding  multitudes 
upon  the  heart  of  Christ  becomes  in  the  city  a  concrete  demand,  an 
inevitable  appeal  to  realize  for  the  sake  of  their  need  and  for  the 
sake  of  His  love  the  answer  to  His  prayer  for  the  oneness  of  be- 
lievers. It  is  not  only  true  that  in  the  American  cities  to-day  is 
to  be  found  for  the  Church  the  strategic  opportunity  of  the  Chris- 
tian centuries  for  reaching  men  of  every  race  and  condition  with 
the  Gospel,  but  in  these  very  cities  as  nowhere  else  and  as  never 
before  its  essential,  vital  unity  finds  its  high  prerogative  of  unchal- 
lenged expression.  To  those  who  are  ever  facing  the  problems  of 
the  great  city  the  possibilities  of  such  an  expression  in  the  federative 
idea  which  underlies  this  Conference  have  become  an  article  of 
faith.  They  perceive  that  upon  the  basis  of  the  Divine  Headship  of 
Jesus  Christ,  federation  recognizes  history,  assumes  the  reality  and 
right  of  private  opinion  and  of  non-conformity  in  creed  and  custom, 
takes  for  granted  that  law  of  "unity  in  variety"  which  is  as  potent 
in  religion  as  in  art.  It  asks  no  surrender  except  where  birthright 
privileges  have  been  usurped.  It  requires  no  concession,  save  of 
that  which  dishonors  Christ.  It  interferes  with  no  peculiarity, 
unless  what  is  singular  is  also  wrong.  It  claims  no  authority  be- 
yond the  sanctions  which  mutual  knowledge  in  the  light  of  the  pres- 
ence of  the  one  Lord  of  all  reveal  to  the  conscience  of  each.  It  is 
inevitable  that  as  the  Churches  move  forward  to  their  certain  con- 
quest of  the  world,  the  phases  of  faith  and  of  practice  which  survive 
will  prove  to  be  those  which  now  are  essentially  common  to  all. 
The  life  out  of  which  the  variant  forms  have  been  developed  is  one 
life,  and  its  center  and  giver  is  the  one  Lord.  The  past  has  proved 
that  the  hope  of  unity  is  not  in  the  realm  of  the  intellect,  in  l^he 
high  altitudes  of  philosophy,  but  in  the  heart,  upon  the  broad  plains 
of  human  service.  Words  which,  shouted  from  peak  to  peak, 
awaken  only  confused  echoes,  spoken  in  whispers  in  the  well  worn 
ways  of  weary  men  find  the  soul  and  reveal  us  brothers  of  the  com- 
mon life  in  loving  obedience  to  Him  who  rules  us  all,  because  He — 
the  Son  of  God — is  also  son  of  man. 

Let  us  advance  upon  the  citadel  of  the  new  civilization  with 
such  device  of  banner  as  each  may  choose,  but  with  leadership  un- 
challenged, with  lines  unbroken.  Let  us  draw  upon  the  best  which 
each  has  found  and  cherished,  that  the  common  foe  may  feel  the 
concentration  of  our  force.  Let  none  withhold  for  private  use  the 
divine  gifts  of  invention,  tact  and  wisdom,  which  should  be  the 


INNER  MISSION  OF  THE  GERMAN  CHURCHES  509 

heritage  of  all.  Let  the  grace  of  dignity,  the  skill  of  organization, 
the  keenness  of  reasoning,  the  reverence  of  tradition,  blended  and 
fused  in  the  eager,  hot  heart  of  zeal,  create  in  the  living  Church  a 
new  ideal  and  a  new  temper,  and  open  to  our  feet  the  broader  paths 
of  service,  and  to  our  sight  the  radiant  beauty  of  the  City  of  God. 
Let  us  meet  the  expectation  of  our  Lord !  May  the  glow  of  Mathe- 
son's  vision  greet  the  united  Church  at  every  city's  entrance,  upon 
its  crowded  avenues,  in  it?  offices,  its  markets,  its  libraries,  its 
schools,  its  labor  halls,  its  homes. 

"Thou  art  descending,  0  City  of  God.  I  see  thee  coming 
nearer  and  nearer.  Tongues  are  dead,  prophecies  are  dying,  but 
charity  is  born.  Our  castles  rise  into  the  air  and  vanish ;  but  love 
is  bending  lower  and  lower  every  day.  Man  says,  'Let  us  make  a 
tower  on  earth  which  shall  reach  unto  heaven,'  but  God  says,  'Let 
us  make  a  tower  in  heaven  which  shall  reach  unto  the  earth.'  O 
descending  city,  0  humanitarian  city,  0  city  for  the  outcast  and 
forlorn,  we  hail  thee,  we  greet  thee,  we  meet  thee!  All  the  isles 
wait  for  thee,  the  lives  riven  from  the  mainland,  the  isolated, 
stunted,  stranded  lives.  They  sing  a  new  song  at  that  coming,  and 
the  burden  of  its  music  is  this,  'He  hath  prepared  for  me  a  City.'  "^ 


THE    "INNER    MISSION"    OF    THE    GERMAN 
CHURCHES 


The  Rev.  C.  Armand  Miller,  D.D. 


A  notable  assembly  was  gathered  in  September  of  the  year 
1848  in  the  old  Castle  Church  at  Wittenberg.  The  place  is  forever 
hallowed  by  the  grave  which  it  contains,  in  which  lies  the  dust  of 
Martin  Luther.  It  was  already  associated  in  imperishable  history 
with  a  great,  transforming  movement,  for  upon  its  door  the 
"little  monk"  had  nailed  his  Ninety-five  Theses,  with  their  latent, 
though  unsuspected,  seeds  of  Eeformation,  their  repristination  of 
fundamental  Christian  truth.  It  was  not  in  the  thought  of  the 
men  who  were  gathered  there  from  every  district  of  Germany, 
men  of  note  and  leadership,  burdened  with  the  serious  problems 
of  their  time  and  land,  that  again  the  old  church  should  become 
linked  with  a  great  regenerative  impulse,  that  their  conference 


510  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

should  be  counted  memorable  in  after  days  because  in  it  a  new 
and  mighty  agency  for  the  rescue  of  lost  men  was  to  take  form. 
Scarcely  had  even  a  subordinate  place  on  their  programme  been 
assigned  for  the  presentation  of  the  work,  which,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  was  to  dominate  all  other  subjects  with  which  they 
concerned  themselves.  They  had  come  together  asking  the  ques- 
tion, "What  can  be  done  to  stem  the  tide  of  ignorance,  crime  and 
depravity  that  is  sweeping  over  our  country?"  Many  had  given 
their  answers,  but  no  convincing  response  had  come.  Then  arose 
one  who  had  in  his  heart  a  message  which  would  not  permit  him 
to  be  silent,  and  who  pleaded  in  burning  words  that  the  Wittenberg 
Diet  should  not  overlook  the  subject  of  the  inner  mission.  The 
appeal  was  answered  by  allotting  the  first  hour  of  that  same  after- 
noon to  the  consideration  of  this  theme. 

It  was  then  that  one  of  the  addresses  that  have  influenced  the 
world  was  made.  Johann  Hinrich  Wichern,  without  preparation, 
"except  as  his  whole  life  had  been  a  preparation,"  for  that  hour 
poured  forth  his  heart.  Fully  equipped  with  the  facts  that  showed 
the  need,  vividly  depicting  the  unbelief,  the  scornful  mockery  of 
Christ  and  His  Church,  to  which  many  were  giving  expression; 
voicing  the  conviction  which  years  of  experience  had  justified  as  to 
the  merit  of  the  plan  which  he  was  proposing ;  filled  with  unction 
from  on  high,  he  mightily  prevailed,  and  from  that  hour  the 
inner  mission  was  the  one  subject  that  absorbed  the  attention  of 
the  diet.  He  said  in  his  later  days,  "Only  twice  in  my  life  have  I 
had  the  certain,  overpowering  consciousness  that  God,  in  ex- 
traordinary measure,  was  allotting  to  me  the  full  power  of  His 
Word,"  and  this  was  one  of  those  two  occasions.  Certainly  the 
address  which  produces  on  its  hearers  the  overwhelming  convic- 
tion that  a  mighty  agency  for  the  rescue  of  wandering  men  had 
been  revealed  to  them,  leading  them  to  undertake  the  work  of 
the  ianer  mission,  with  all  of  its  blessed  fruitage,  had  in  it  the 
strength  of  the  divine  might!  Less  than  four  months  later  the 
"Central  Committee  for  the  Inner  Mission  of  the  German  Evan- 
gelical Church"  was  organized,  and  its  influence  has  resulted  in 
the  multifarious  enterprises  of  the  inner  mission  of  to-day. 

Wichern,  a  young  Candidat,  had  been  engaged  in  the  work  of 
the  Sunday  School  in  Hamburg,  and  had  shown  a  marked  fitness 
for  this  field  of  service.  Out  of  the  experience  thus  gained  he 
had  been  led,  fifteen  years  before  the  diet  at  Wittenberg,  to  open 
a  refuge  for  depraved  youth  in  a  little  straw-thatched  cottage  on 


INNER  MISSION  OF  THE  GERMAN  CHURCHES  511 

the  outskirts  of  Hamburg,  in  whicli  at  first  three  lads— in  a  few 
weeks  twelve— found  a  home.  The  experiment  so  humbly  begun 
soon  developed  into  an  established  and  successful  institution, 
which  has  been  ever  since  a  model  for  all  undertakings  of  similar 
aim.  The  principles  of  the  "Eauhe  Haus"  have  been  applied 
wherever  a  careful  study  of  such  rescue  work  has  been  made. 
Finding  that  the  success  of  his  "Rauhe  Haus"  in  the  reclaiming 
of  vicious  lads  depended  very  largely  upon  the  training  and  char- 
acter of  his  assistants,  Wichern  formed  in  connection  with  his 
refuge  a  brotherhood,  or  lay  diaconate,  giving  to  men  who  were 
willing  to  devote  their  lives  to  Christian  work  a  training  to  fit 
them  for  the  most  useful  activity.  The  years  brought  to  the  di- 
rector of  the  ''Eauhe  Haus"  the  deepening  conviction  that  in  the 
lines  of  service  here  exemplified  lay  a  mighty  unused  power  for 
the  Church.  The  name  "Inner  Mission"  is  first  found  in  a  book 
by  Lucke,  published  in  1843.  But  it  came  into  general  use 
through  Wichern  and  his  circle,  and  it  is  forever  associated  with 
his  name  since  that  hour  when  his  presentation  of  the  cause  to 
the  Wittenberg  Diet  became  the  birthday,  not,  indeed,  of  the  in- 
ner mission,  but  of  its  comprehensive  activity. 

What  is  the  inner  mission  ?  The  name  has  a  strange  sound  to 
our  ears.  We  need  discriminating  definition.  Inner  mission  is  to 
be  contrasted  with  foreign  missions,  inasmuch  as  the  latter  are 
directed  to  those  outside  of  Christendom,  while  the  objects  of 
the  inner  mission  are  within  its  pale.  Inner  mission  is  to  be  con- 
trasted with  what  we  call  home  missions,  inasmuch  as  the  latter 
are  directed  to  the  gathering  together  of  scattered  Christians,  who 
are  deprived  of  the  privileges  of  worship  and  church  fellowship, 
while  the  Inner  Mission  is  concerned,  not  with  the  planting  of 
Churches  where  there  are  none,  but  with  the  reclamation  of 
Christians  who  have  faUen  away  from  faith  and  holiness,  even  in 
the  very  midst  of  the  Christian  community.  Foreign  missions  seek 
to  bring  the  Gospel  to  those  who  have  never  heard  it.  Home  mis- 
sions seek  to  bring  the  privileges  of  the  Church  to  those  who  be- 
long to  it  and  desire  its  blessing,  but  who  are  out  of  its  reach.  The 
Inner  Mission  seeks  to  bring  back  the  wayward  child  to  the 
Father's  house  which  he  has  left.  It  is  not  to  be  regarded,  more- 
over, as  a  work  solely  for  the  poor  and  degraded.  Wichern,  in  his 
address  before  the  Wittenberg  Diet,  dwelt  upon  the  thought  that 
the  Inner  Mission  is  "independent  of  all  distinctions  of  class;  has 
in  all  classes  its  representatives,  who  work  for  it,  in  all  classes  its 


512  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

peculiar  offices,  which  it  must  discharge/'  He  says  also:  'It  is 
easy  to  imagine  a  community  in  which  the  rich  and  cultured 
might  furnish  the  only  field  which  the  Inner  Mission  could  choose, 
because  they  were  poor  toward  God,  whilst  the  poor,  because  rich 
toward  Him,  would  be  the  bearers  of  the  Inner  Mission." 

It  is  doubtless  necessary  fully  to  understand  the  significance 
of  the  name  and  the  relation  of  the  work  of  the  Inner  Mission 
to  other  Christian  activities  in  the  German  Churches  to  have 
some  light  on  the  total  conception  of  Christian  life  held  in  those 
Cliurches.  The  Protestant  Church  of  Germany,  predominantly 
Lutheran  in  faith,  conceives  of  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
life  of  the  individual  and  the  reception  of  the  grace  of  God  as 
mediated  through  baptism,  and  no  child  remains  unbaptized.  This 
new  life  thus  begun  is  nurtured  by  Christian  instruction  in  the 
home  and  in  the  school,  and  when  the  child  has  arrived  at  suitable 
age  in  the  pastor's  class,  where  the  preparation  for  confirmation  is 
given.  The  result  of  these  methods  is  the  ingathering  of  all  the 
young  into  the  Church  through  baptism  and  the  instruction  which 
is  involved  therein.  But  the  power  of  sin,  the  strength  of  the 
three  great  foes — world,  flesh,  devil — succeed  in  drawing  many 
away  from  the  allegiance  which  they  owe,  and  which  they  have  ac- 
knowledged. A  mission  to  these  is  not  an  outer  mission.  They 
are  baptized  members  of  the  Church,  the  vows  of  their  confirma- 
tion are  upon  them,  but  they  have  lapsed.  The  mission  to  them 
is  an  Inner  Mission,. and  such  its  name  declares  it  to  be.  The 
Inner  Mission  is  the  great  revival  agency  of  the  German  Church, 
not  spasmodically  or  intermittently  prosecuted,  but  continuous 
and  systematic. 

The  circumstances  which  compelled  the  organization  of  the 
Inner  Mission  as  a  comprehensive  movement,  coming  into  effective 
existence  at  the  time  which  saw  its  rise,  are  of  various  kinds. 
Germany  was  entering  into  the  circle  of  manufacturing  and  com- 
mercial competition.  Changes,  considerable  and  disconcerting, 
were  the  necessary  consequence.  The  new  conditions  and  the 
pressure  of  their  problems  are  indicated  in  the  statement  in 
Wichem's  address  at  the  Diet,  in  which  he  specified  "mechanics, 
emigrants,  railroad  employes,  the  crowded  masses  in  the  cities, 
and  the  adherents  of  communistic  and  revolutionary  leaders,"  as 
classes  exemplifying  the  burning  necessities  of  the  widespread 
moral  and  religious  destitution  of  the  whole  population. 

The  wars  of  liberation,  the  splendid  struggles  to  throw  off  the 


HON.  PETER  S.  GROSSCUP 


HON.  DAVID  J.  BREWER,  LL.D. 


HENRY   WADE   ROGERS,  LL.D. 


REV.  JAMES   M.  FARRAR,  D.D. 


INNER  MISSION  OF  THE  GERMAN   0HVRVHE8  513 

Napoleonic  yoke,  the  internal  disturbances  connected  with  the 
endeavor  to  secure  a  larger  civic  freedom,  the  revolution  of  1848 
and  the  rioting  which  followed  it  only  a  few  months  preceding 
this  great  Diet,  conditions  which  had  most  important  and  even 
beneficent  effects  in  the  sphere  of  government,  were  attended  by 
the  usual  results  of  war  and  strife  on  the  moral  life  of  the  people. 
In  the  city  of  Hamburg  at  least  one-tenth  of  the  children  reached 
the  age  of  fourteen  years  without  knowing  the  alphabet.  There 
were  capital  cities  in  Germany  in  which  half  ol  the  children  bom 
were  illegitimate. 

The  educated  classes  in  embracing  culture  had  abandoned 
faith  in  revealed  religion.  The  great  philosophers  had  led  men 
to  rely  upon  reason  and  to  find  in  education  the  equivalent  of 
salvation.  Pastors,  as  well  as  people,  were  rationalistic,  so  that  it 
becomes  a  thing  worthy  of  note  when  Bismarck,  attending  Church 
services  at  Frankfort,  finds  "the  pastor  not  a  particularly  brilliant 
man,  but  a  believer,"  as  he  writes  to  his  wife.  The  usual  refuge  of 
the  unbelieving  pastor  was  in  an  ethical  essay,  devoid  of  energiz- 
ing power.  Supematuralism  did  not  help  matters  much.  Its  God 
was  above  the  world,  and  not  actively  interested  in  it.  Pietism  had 
a  strong  influence  on  individuals,  but  it  had  no  genius  for  co- 
hesiveness  or  organization,  and  was  not  adapted  to  produce  co- 
operation in  religious  work. 

But  there  were  also  influences  that  had  been  making  directly 
for  the  work  to  which  Wichern  had  called  the  Church.  TJrlspor- 
ger's  "Christian  Society"  (1780)  distributed  religious  publica- 
tions, cared  for  orphans  and  other  dependent  children,  and  sought 
to  quicken  spiritual  life  by  concerted  prayer  and  strict  observance 
of  the  Lord's  Day.  It  included  in  its  membership  rich  and  poor, 
high  and  low,  and  taught  the  value  of  voluntary  association  for 
common  need,  and  emphasized  loyalty  to  the  Church,  while  per- 
mitting great  variety  of  opinion  among  members.  The  Bible  so- 
cieties, of  which  the  oldest  in  existence  is  the  Canstein  Bible  In- 
stitute (1783),  in  close  connection  with  the  Francke  institutions 
at  Halle,  began  a  more  active  distribution  of  the  Word  of  God. 
"As  the  Lutheran  Eeformation  began  with  a  republication  of  the 
Bible,  so  this  revival  of  social  beneficence  was  closely  and  casually 
connected  with  the  larger  circulation  of  the  inspiring  book,"  says 
a  writer  in  the  "American  Journal  of  Sociology."  The  Sunday 
School,  revealing  the  ignorance  of  the  children,  and,  through  the 
visitation  of  homes  connected  with  it,  the  depraved  lives  of  the 


514  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

multitudes,  had  much  to  do  with  the  personal  preparation  of 
Wichem  to  be  the  father  of  the  Inner  Mission,  and  was  one  of  the 
formative  influences  leading  up  to  that  work. 

The  invention  of  means  of  communication  for  deaf  mutes; 
the  work  of  John  Howard  and  of  Elizabeth  Fry  for  the  better- 
ment of  prisoners;  the  improvement  of  the  conditions  surround- 
ing the  insane ;  the  impetus  given  to  the  establishment  of  schools 
for  saving  neglected  and  abandoned  children,  by  Pestalozzi  (whose 
lack  of  practical  sagacity  resulted  in  the  failure  of  his  immediate 
efforts) ;  by  John  Falk,  with  his  society  of  the  ''Friends  in  Need," 
and  his  house  of  rescue  at  Weimar;  and  by  Zeller  and  others,  with 
similar  institutions;  the  work  of  women  for  the  poor  and  sick, 
led  by  Amalie  Sieveking;  all  these  and  the  movements  like  them 
yielded  important  contributions  to  the  Inner  Mission. 

Two  other  indispensable  things  came  just  on  the  eve  of  the 
organization  of  the  Inner  Mission — the  restoration  of  the  diaconal 
service  of  women,  recognized  in  the  Apostolic  Church  and  re- 
newed by  Theodore  Fliedner  of  Kaiserswerth,  and  the  restoration 
by  Wichern  himself  of  the  male  diaconate,  or  the  lay  brother- 
hood, which  also  found  its  roots  in  the  Apostolic  days. 

The  Inner  Mission,  then,  was  not  in  its  essence  a  new  thing. 
Its  soul  is  as  old  as  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  is  the  soul  of  that  Gospel, 
the  spirit  of  ministering  love.  Its  central  conviction  that  sin  is  at 
the  root  of  every  form  of  man's  suffering,  and  that  Christ  is  the 
Saviour  for  all  of  earth's  ills  is  certainly  not  new.  Its  conception 
of  the  duty  of  Christian  men  to  provide  for  the  needs  of  the  bodies 
as  well  as  for  the  wants  of  the  souls  of  the  wretched  is  a  concep- 
tion that  at  no  time  passed  out  of  the  thought  of  Christendom. 
Its  method  of  using  the  services  of  laymen  in  the  ministry  of 
mercy  is  not  more  recent  in  origin  than  the  days  following  closely 
upon  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Its  emphasis  upon  reli- 
gious education  is  older  than  Christianity  itself.  No  one  of  these 
things  belongs  to  modern  times.  Each  of  them  is  a  factor  in  the 
work  called  the  Inner  Mission.  And  their  combination,  or  totality, 
in  an  organized  and  coordinated  movement,  forms  the  Inner  Mis- 
sion, which,  in  the  words  of  Wichern  is,  "not  this  or  that  particu- 
lar activity,  but  the  combined  work  of  the  love  begotten  by  faith 
which  seeks  to  bring  about  the  external  and  internal  renewal  of 
the  masses  within  Christendom  who  have  become  subject  to  the 
power  and  mastery  of  the  manifold  evils  which  spring  directly  or 
indirectly  from  sin,  and  who  are  not  reached,  as  for  their  Chris- 


INNER  MISSION  OF  THE  GERMAN  CHURCHES  515 

tian  renewal  they  ought  to  be,  by  the  established  offices  of  the 
Church."  Reimpell  has  clearly  indicated  three  sharply  defined 
points  characteristic  of  Wichern's  conception:  "The  Inner  Mis- 
sion is  (1)  mission  (this  constitutes  its  Christian,  united,  churchly 
character);  it  is  (2)  inner  mission  (herein  lies  its  social  charac- 
ter); it  has  (3)  a  special  form  of  manifestation  (recognizing  the 
universal  priesthood,  involving  participation  of  the  laity,  and  the 
work  of  societies)."  In  view  of  these  points  the  definition  is 
offered:  "The  Inner  Mission  is  the  work  of  the  Church,  wrought 
through  its  living  members,  on  the  ground  of  the  universal  priest- 
hood, for  the  spread  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  common  life 
of  the  people  who  outwardly  belong  to  the  Church." 

There  are  three  main  currents,  as  another  (Schaef  er)  expresses 
it,  which  have  flowed  separately  through  the  history  of  the 
Church  in  all  its  principal  periods,  commingling,  in  the  Inner 
Mission,  in  a  common  stream  of  activity.  First  come  the  words 
of  mercy.  In  the  early  days  of  Christianity,  when  the  love  of  the 
disciples  of  the  Master  extorted  the  astonished  admiration  of  the 
heathen,  such  works  assumed  the  simple  forms  of  feeding  the 
hungry,  caring  for  the  sick,  clothing  the  naked,  sharing  posses- 
sions with  those  made  destitute  through  the  sword  of  persecu- 
tion, etc.  Later  came  a  greater  variety  of  provision  for  all  diverse 
forms  of  want;  not  only  free  food,  clothiug,  shoes,  but  free  baths, 
free  bleeding,  with  the  gift  of  a  strengthening  draught,  free  fuel, 
innumerable  hospitals,  offering  refuge  to  the  sick  and  lep- 
rous, as  well  as  to  aged  and  abandoned  ones.  A  multitude  of 
religious  orders  gave  themselves,  often  with  amazing  self-denial, 
to  such  ministry  to  want.  These  things  illumine  the  history  of  the 
Church  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Yet,  beautiful  as  are  these  deeds  of 
mercy,  they  are  aU  isolated,  disconnected,  committed  exclusively 
to  the  hands  of  priests  or  monks,  administered  without  reference 
to  the  need  and  circumstances  of  the  recipient,  impelled  by  the 
conviction  that  giving  was  in  itself  a  meritorious  act,  and  that 
beggars  were  a  praiseworthy,  even  a  venerable,  class  of  people. 
Little  wonder  that  poverty  increased  under  these  conditions. 

The  Reformation,  along  with  its  other  fruits,  brought  a  thor- 
ough investigation  into  the  Scriptural  principles  concerning  riches 
and  poverty,  beneficence  and  the  taking  of  charity.  There  was  an 
earnest  effort  to  provide  for  the  supply  of  the  necessities  of  life, 
for  the  education  of  the  poor  and  for  the  care  of  the  sick.  A 
great  number  of  associations  and  organizations  were  established. 


516  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

based  on  evangelical  principles.  Begging  was  forbidden.  The  ad- 
ministration of  the  funds  for  the  poor,  contributed  by  the 
Church,  was  largely  committed  to  laymen.  The  trend  was  back 
toward  the  practice  of  the  ancient  Church,  the  congregational 
care  for  the  needy. 

The  modem  Inner  Mission  has  a  far  more  diversified  work  in 
its  ministry  of  mercy.  To  name  only  some  of  the  many  kinds  of 
misery  it  seeks  to  relieve  requires  no  few  words.  Besides  all  that  is 
common  to  this  with  earlier  periods,  such  as  provision  of  food, 
clothing,  hospitals,  there  are  day  nurseries,  orphan  homes,  institu- 
tions providing  manual  training  and  teaching  trades  in  the  hours 
when  children,  free  from  school  and  without  restraint,  would  be 
learning  the  lessons  of  the  streets;  Christian  hospices,  or  inns,  for 
young  men,  young  women,  and  for  various  classes  of  workers; 
rescue  homes  for  incorrigible  children;  homes  for  the  blind,  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  for  idiots,  for  epileptics,  for  the  crippled,  the  de- 
formed, and  the  defective,  particularly  institutions  for  the  mentally 
sick.  Add  to  these  the  associations  or  societies  for  the  care  of  the 
needy  in  time  of  pestilence  or  of  war,  and  those  which  seek  the 
betterment  of  the  poor,  by  securing  improved  dwellings,  by  labor 
colonies,  and  by  encouraging  the  investment  of  surplus  earnings, 
however  small,  in  savings  banks,  and  we  have  caught  a  glimpse  of 
an  untold  work  of  Christian  helpfulness  in  active  and  manifold 
operation.  Let  us  remember,  too,  that  these  are  not  disconnected 
efforts,  not  separate  drops  of  refreshment,  but  a  mighty  stream  of 
mercy,  an  organized  mission,  bearing  the  imprint  of  Christian  love 
and  appealing  to  the  world  as  the  expression  of  the  spirit  of  the 
merciful  Christ,  in  His  Church. 

The  second  great  current  which  has  flowed  into  the  stream  of 
the  Inner  Mission  may  be  described  as  the  free  preaching  of  the 
Word  of  God,  in  speech  and  print,  by  such  as  are  indeed  duly 
authorized,  but  outside  of  the  pastoral  office.  The  springs  of  this 
river  also  are  found  in  the  Apostolic  days,  and  may  be  traced 
through  the  whole  history  of  the  Church,  although  the  very  general 
neglect  of  preaching  in  the  Middle  Ages  was  one  of  the  sins  of  the 
Church  of  Eome  which  had  the  most  fatal  consequences.  The 
Reformation  not  only  restored  preaching  to  its  rightful  place  in 
the  public  worship  of  the  congregation,  but  opened  the  door  to  the 
fuU  and  free  proclamation  of  the  Gospel,  by  word  of  mouth  and  by 
the  printed  page.  The  Inner  Mission,  through  Bible  societies, 
tracts  and  pamphlets,  printed  sermons,  such  as  those  of  the  famous 


INNER  MliiSION  OF  THE  GERMAN  CHURCHES  517 

Dr.  Stoecker,  of  the  City  Mission  of  Berlin,  whose  weekly  sermon  is 
distributed  by  the  tens  of  thousands ;  Christian  public  libraries  and 
colportage,  besides  the  preaching  of  the  Word  by  means  of  the  living 
voice,  emphasizes  its  reliance  in  the  last  analysis  upon  the  "Word 
of  God  that  liveth  and  abideth  forever."  To  estimate  the  force  of 
this  current  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  every  institution  and 
society  of  the  Inner  Mission  the  preaching  and  teaching  of  the 
Word  is  daily  and  unceasingly  employed.  Not  only  in  the  various 
institutions  of  mercy  already  referred  to,  but  in  the  Sunday  Schools, 
the  little  children's  schools,  the  societies  for  education,  the  Young 
Peoples'  societies,  the  societies  for  the  spiritual  care  of  those  whose 
work  takes  them  from  place  to  place,  such  as  the  bands  of  turf 
diggers,  of  harvesters,  of  railroad  employees,  of  laborers  on  the  high- 
ways, of  canal  boatmen,  of  those  engaged  on  the  vessels  that  navi- 
gate the  rivers,  tho  seamen's  missions,  the  organizations  that  care 
for  and  protect  the  interests  of  those  who  emigrate,  the  chaplains 
and  visitors  to  almshouses,  and  the  like— all  included  in  the  Inner 
Mission,  the  preaching  and  teaching  of  the  Word  of  God  lies  at 
the  very  centre  of  their  activities. 

There  remains  to  be  mentioned  the  third  current  of  the  Church's 
life,  which  has  entered  into  the  Inner  Mission.  This  may  be  de- 
scribed as  the  effort  at  reform.  The  great  Reformation  in  the  six- 
teenth century  is  an  indication  of  this  tendency  in  the  Church  in 
the  past.  A  later  and  less  successful  instance  may  be  found  in 
Pietism,  and  the  Inner  Mission  as  a  whole  partakes  of  the  same 
spirit.  Many  of  the  specific  departments  of  the  Inner  Mission 
already  referred  to  under  another  classification  might  be  included 
here,  especially  the  rescue  homes,  and  much  of  the  preaching  and 
colportage  work.  But  to  these  should  be  added  certain  agencies 
directed  almost  exclusively  at  the  reformation  of  classes  of  corrupt 
and  corrupting  men  and  women.  Here  belong  the  multitude  of 
Magdaleniums,  or  refuges  for  fallen  women,  and  the  asylums  for 
inebriates.  Here  also  must  be  named  the  organized  efforts  for  the 
spiritual  care  of  the  prisoners,  and  for  all  needed  encouragement 
and  aid  to  them  and  to  their  families  when  the  term  of  imprison- 
ment is  ended,  that  the  new  start  may  be  wisely  made.  Shall  we 
not  mention  here,  in  addition,  the  agents  of  the  Inner  Mission  who 
at  fifty-five  principal  railroad  stations  meet  young  women  who  must 
travel  alone  and  direct  them  to  safe  homes,  to  Churches  and  to 
women's  societies  ? 

And  let  it  not  be  forgotten  for  a  moment  that  these  streams  of 


518  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

Christian  influence  are  not  distinct,  but  united  and  commingled  in 
the  one  great  river  that  we  call  the  Inner  Mission,  the  Church,  per- 
meated by  the  spirit  of  believing  love,  at  work,  to  relieve,  to  guard, 
to  save  its  people,  not  overlooking  any  external  or  internal  need 
which  Christian  love  can  supply,  "The  Inner  Mission  is  that  move- 
ment for  reform  in  the  Church  of  the  twentieth  century  that  seeks 
to  improve  the  inner  condition  of  the  Church  by  bringing  the  works 
of  mercy,  as  well  as  the  free  proclamation  of  the  Gospel,  into 
organic  and  permanent  connection  with  its  life  and  making  them 
effective  there." — Schaefer. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  the  desired  results  could  not  be 
secured  in  this  varied  work  unless  the  workers  were  inspired  with  a 
true  devotion  rooted  deeply  in  a  spiritual  life,  and  were,  moreover, 
equipped  with  training  for  their  difficult  and  delicate  tasks. 
Wichern,  who  was  the  first  to  realize  that  it  is  not  good  for  depraved 
boys  to  be  kept  together  in  large  numbers,,  that  the  true  method  for 
their  betterment  is  to  reproduce  as  closely  as  possible  the  divine 
plan  for  the  upbringing  of  children  by  giving  them  a  family  life, 
with  the  surroundings  of  a  Christian  home,  as  he  sought  to  put 
this  idea  into  practice  was  confronted  immediately  by  the  difficulty 
of  finding  the  right  men  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  each  family 
in  his  "group  system."  He  met  the  problem  by  himself  training 
young  men  who  were  willing  to  devote  their  lives  to  the  service  of 
Christ  in  the  Inner  Mission.  Out  of  this  beginning  developed  the 
Brother  House,  in  which  these  men  are  prepared  for  their  work, 
experience  going  hand  in  hand  with  instruction,  and  as  the  Inner 
Mission  grew  one  Brother  House  after  another  was  established,  until 
now  there  are  eighteen  houses  and  over  2,600  "brothers."  They 
serve  as  house-fathers  in  institutions,  and  as  lay  preachers,  teachers, 
city  and  seamen's  missionaries,  overseers  of  labor  colonies,  etc. 

Almost  at  the  same  time  that  Wichern  was  beginning  the  re- 
newed diaconate  of  men  Theodore  Fliedner,  at  Kaiserswerth,  led 
by  very  similar  circumstances  while  attempting  to  help  fallen 
women,  restored  the  diaconate  of  women.  The  Mother  House  at 
Kaiserswerth  is  the  pattern  after  which  all  the  sisterhoods  of  mercy 
in  the  Protestant  Churches  to-day  have  been  formed,  and  without 
the  work  of  these  consecrated  women,  who  are  found  in  all  parts 
of  the  world,  the  Inner  Mission  could  have  accomplished  far  less 
than  has  been  done.  There  are  now  at  least  seventy-six  Mother 
Houses  in  the  world,  counting  only  those  affiliated  with  the  Kaisers- 
werth Union  of  Mother  Houses,  and  from  them  have  gone  out  over 


INNER  jU/,S,v70A'  OF  THE  GERMAN  CHURCHES  519 

14.000  ''sisters,-'  laboring  on  almost  6,000  "stations"  all  over  the 
world. 

These  deacons  and  deaconesses,  with  the  many  pastors  directly 
engaged  in  the  Inner  Mission  and  the  great  number  of  voluntary 
helpers,  constitute  the  working  force  of  the  world's  greatest  prax;- 
tical  agency  for  the  rescue  of  the  wandering. 

The  Inner  Mission,  then,  has  really  a  three-fold  object.  It  seeks 
to  aid  the  family,  the  Church  and  the  State.  By  distinctively 
Christian  methods  and  in  a  Christian  spirit,  as  distinguished  from 
the  methods  and  spirit  that  are  merely  philanthropic  and  himiani- 
tarian,  it  attempts  to  help  the  fallen,  the  indifferent,  the  poor,  the 
sick  and  the  neglected  of  every  age  and  class,  and  to  protect  the 
imperilled  and  save  the  abandoned.  It  finds  in  the  gracious  figure 
of  the  God-Man  its  example  and  its  inspiration;  in  His  blessed 
revelation  of  the  Divine  Love,  its  efficient  means  for  reaching  hearts 
and  renewing  lives,  and  in  His  parable  of  the  Great  Supper,  with 
its  injunction  to  the  servants,  "Go  out  quickly  into  the  streets  and 
lanes  of  the  eitj^  and  bring  in  hither  the  poor  and  maimed  and 
blind  and  lame  *  *  *  go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges 
and  constrain  them  to  come  in"  (Luke  14:21-23),  the  Inner 
Mission  has  its  authoritative  and  comprehensive  commission. 

Note. — The  most  recent  statistics  procurable  may  be  summarized  as 
follows : 

There  are  connected  with  the  Inner  Mission  of  Germany  102  day 
nurseries  with  places  for  3,901  babies  and  208  caretakers ;  2.700  Little 
Children's  Schools,  with  187,817  pupils,  under  3,251  teachers.  Over 
20,000  children  were  cared  for  and  taught  in  the  hours  after  school, 
saved  from  the  streets,  in  332  refuges,  under  the  care  of  982  teachers 
and  assistants.  In  251  orphans'  homes  8,697  children  were  cared  for  by 
371  workers.  Besides  this  there  are  140  societies  for  placing  in  Chris- 
tian homes  orphaned  or  neglected  children. 

There  were  1.993  Young  Men's  Societies,  with  103,787  members ;  3,049 
Young  Women's  Societies,  with  83,844  members;  163  industrial  schools 
for  girls.  38  for  the  training  of  domestic  servants,  89  homes  for  servant 
girls.  35  Christian  lodging  houses  for  factory  girls,  and  11  for  women 
engaged  as  bookkeepers,  stenographers,  etc.,  465  Christian  inns,  and  at 
42  ports  seamen's  missions  have  been  established  and  emigrant  houses 
at  the  principal  German  ports.  There  are  329  reformatories  after  the 
pattern  of  the  "Rauhe  Haus" ;  35  Magdalen  homes,  24  labor  colonies. 
The  Inner  Mission  controls  359  hospitals,  with  (1897)  157,145  patients 
cared  for  by  2,349  nurses,  and  375  homes  for  aged  and  infirm,  with 
7,077  inmates  under  433  caretakers ;  9  institutions  for  cripples,  7  for  the 
insane,  33  for  the  feeble-minded  and  9  for  epileptics.  There  are  71 
City  Missions,  with  433  workers,  in  all  their  diversified  activity. 


520  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

The  9  priueiital  German  Bible  Societies,  with  smaller  local  societies, 
the  9  large  tract  societies,  the  56  publishing  houses,  the  10,114  popular 
circulating  libraries,  the  200  or  more  Christian  papers  for  the  general 
public  and  the  50  periodicals  devoted  to  Inner  Mission  subjects,  together 
with  the  weekly  distribution  of  about  220,000  printed  sermons,  form  an 
antidote  for  the  irreligious  secular  and  socialistic  press. 


THE    WORK    OF  EVANGELIZATION  AMONG    THE 
NEGROES 


The  Rev.  Bishop  W.  B.  Derrick,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


Over  forty  years  ago  a  fresh  and  invigorating  breeze  blew  across 
the  nation,  resurrecting  from  the  wilderness  of  moral,  mental, 
Bocial,  physical  and  spiritual  wretchedness  fully  five  million  human 
beings.  The  act  which  brought  about  this  startling  change  was 
performed  by  the  man  whose  mortal  remains  are  sleeping  in  the 
sacred  vault  at  Springfield,  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  precious  memory. 
It  was  then  for  the  first  time  these  five  millions  of  people  were 
called  to  face  the  stern  realities  of  life.  Suddenly  thrown  out  in 
the  world,  they  were  naturally  helpless,  ignorant  and  poor.  Yet  in 
this  sad  condition,  having  faith  in  God,  they  fixed  their  eyes  on  the 
polar  star  of  hope  and ,  in  the  language  of  the  Psalmist,  cried  out : 
"Hope  thou  in  the  Lord,  oh,  my  soul!"  They  were  sick  from  the 
soles  of  their  feet  to  the  crown  of  their  head,  as  there  was  no  sound- 
ness in  them,  but  wounds  and  putrefying  sores,  which  were  not 
bound  up,  neither  mollified  with  ointment.  The  Christian  Churches 
of  America  with  haste  ran  to  the  relief,  sending  among  these  people 
preachers  and  teachers  who,  in  their  efforts  to  relieve  their  helpless 
condition,  would  cry  aloud  to  them  the  precious  promises  of  the 
merciful  Creator,  "^Vhen  thou  passeth  through  the  waters  I  will  be 
with  thee,  ajid  through  the  rivers  they  shall  not  overflow  thee,  when 
thou  walkest  through  the  fire  thou  shalt  not  be  burned,  neither  shall 
the  flame  kindle  upon  thee," 

With  this  assurance  the  man  of  color  entered  upon  his 
voyage,  allowing  nothing  to  weaken  his  faith  in  the  Word 
of  Grod,  no  abstruse  and  fanatical  explanation  of  the  Scripture 
to   bewilder   his    imagination.     But   with    humility,    charity   and 


EVAN  OE  LIZ  AT  ION  AMONG  THE  NEGROES  521 

patience  under  the  fiercest  provocation,  he  has  continued  until  this 
day.  In  God  he  has  and  is  still  trusting,  and  he  is  ofttimes  heard 
to  say :  "The  Lord  will  also  be  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed,  and  a 
refuge  in  the  times  of  trouble,  and  they  that  know  Thy  name  will 
put  their  trust  in  Thee,  for  Thou,  Lord,  hast  not  forsaken  them 
that  seek  Thee."  It  is  with  this  hopefulness  he  has  depended  upon 
the  everlasting  arms,  showing  that  dependence  is  one  of  the  laws 
in  the  physical,  social,  moral  and  spiritual  world.  "I  am  the  vine 
and  ye  are  the  branches."  Then,  as  such,  there  is  nothing  surer 
than  the  omnipotent  arms  of  Jesus,  on  which  we  can  safely  lean  as 
individuals,  families,  churches  and  nations.  The  colored  man 
during  these  forty  years  has  advanced.  This  advancement  must  be 
attributed  to  the  evangelizing  influences  of  the  various  Christian 
denominations,  chiefly  Presbyterians,  Congregational ists,  Method- 
ists, Baptists,  Episcopalians,  though  divided  in  different  divisions 
and  called  by  various  names,  such  as  Methodist  North,  Methodist 
South;  Pl'esb}i:erian  North,  Presbyterian  South;  Baptist  North, 
Baptist  South;  African  Methodist,  Zion  Methodist;  nevertheless, 
they  are  the  centres  from  which  radiate  the  intellectual  and  relig- 
ious influences  by  which  the  colored  man  is  uplifted.  We  need  no 
stronger  evidence  to  combat  the  enemies  of  religion  as  to  the  enlight- 
ening, uplifting  and  cleansing  benefits  which  accrue  to  the  individ- 
ual, people  or  nation  which  is  brought  under  the  power  of  the  Word 
of  God.  As  is  to  be  seen  in  the  negro  population  of  the  country, 
which  once  represented  a  people  rising  from  death  whose  tomb 
has  been  burst  asunder  by  the  strong  arm  of  liberty,  and  in  an  almost 
semi-conscious  state  hampered  by  the  shackles  of  both  limbs  and 
intellect,  he  has  been  made  to  walk  erect  through  and  by  the  power 
of  the  Gospel.  So  much  so  that  ancient  and  modem  history  fails 
to  chronicle  so  starthng  a  result. 

The  various  denominations  may  be  truthfully  styled  the 
nurses  which  took  these  people  into  their  arms  and  nour- 
ished and  cherished  them  until  fully  four  millions  are  actual 
suckling  babes  at  the  bosom  of  the  Christian  Church,  and 
there  are  other  millions  nominally  so,  for  which  we  say:  "Oh, 
give  thanks  unto  the  Lord  for  His  goodness,  for  His  mercy  endureth 
forever.  Let  the  Eedeemed  of  the  Lord  say  so  whom  He  hath 
redeemed  from  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  gathered  them  out 
of  the  lands  from  the  East  and  from  the  West,  from  the  North  and 
from  the  South."  The  question  is  often  asked,  where  are  the  evi- 
dences of  the  benefits  accruing  from  the  evangelizing  efforts  on  the 


622  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

part  of  the  various  denominations  among  the  negroes?  We  want 
no  stronger  evidence  than  the  words  of  the  eloquent  and  learned 
Bishop  Galloway  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  South,  who  on 
last  Thursday  in  this  hall  pleaded  so  earnestly  on  behalf  of  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  efforts  being  put  forth  by  the  various  Christian 
denominations  for  the  uplifting  of  the  negro. 

And  may  I  be  allowed  to  add  in  the  same  strain,  the  appeal  to 
you  to  dull  the  edge  of  your  criticism,  which  is  so  often  thrown  at 
the  section  which  he  leads  as  to  the  way  they  conceive  and  express 
their  ideas.  I,  too,  would  ask  of  you  to  dull  the  edge  of  your  criti- 
cism toward  the  negro  as  to  his  ignorance  and  certain  deficiency 
which  he  is  deficient  in,  as  the  causes  of  these  delinquencies  which 
are  to  be  found  among  them  are  traceable.  We  would  ask  you  to 
discriminate  between  the  good  negro  and  the  bad  negro,  as  you 
would  between  the  good  white  man  and  the  bad  white  man,  between 
the  learned  and  refined  negro  and  the  ignorant  and  uncouth  negro, 
as  you  would  between  the  learned  and  refined  white  man  and  the 
ignorant  and  uncouth.  For  we  sincerely  believe  that  as  in  propor- 
tion as  the  negro's  ignorance  disappears,  so  will  the  prejudice  of  the 
white  man  disappear. 

Another  witness  which  testifies  to  the  beneficial  influences  of 
the  evangelizing  efl'orts  of  the  Churches  will  be  found  in  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  official  paper,  published  at  Kansas  City, 
Missouri.  Bishop  E.  E.  Hoss,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South,  contributes  an  article  to  that  journal  in  which  he  writes: 
''The  influence  of  the  schools  and  colleges  of  your  Church  in  the 
South  has  been  wholly  good.  It  may  easily  be  seen  in  its  effects 
upon  the  character  of  the  colored  people  in  many  ways.  Let 
nothing  dismay  you  or  stop  you.  Neither  the  opposition  of  narrow- 
minded  whites  nor  the  indifference  of  unappreciative  negroes  should 
cause  you  to  doubt  that  you  are  doing  what  the  Lord  approves. 
Knowledge  is  better  than  ignorance  always.  Instructed  piety  is 
the  salvation  of  the  negro  race."  Now,  this  is  strong  evidence  as 
to  the  wonderful  changes  that  are  now  going  on  in  the  evangelizing 
efforts  of  the  whole  nation,  for  Bishop  Hoss,  as  well  as  Bishop 
Galloway,  is  a  distinguished  representative  of  the  Methodist  Church 
South,  which  separated  on  the  question  of  slavery  from  the  Metho- 
dist Church  North  nearly  fifty  years  ago.  Still  further  testimonv. 
The  Corresponding  Secretary  of  Education  of  the  Church  South,. 
Dr.  J.  D.  Hammond,  in  his  Eleventh  Annual  Eeport,  says:  "We 
make  no  war  on  social  equality ;  our  war  is  rather  on  social  unity. 


EVASGELlZATIOy  AMOXG  THE  yEGROES  523 

We  encourage  the  negro  to  bring  up  his  social  standard  as  near  as 
possible  to  that  maintained  by  his  white  neighbor,  and  if  he  should 
equal  or  even  surpass  this  we  should  be  the  first  to  rejoice  with  him, 
and,  while  we  admit  the  great  value  of  industrial  training  for  the 
negro,  we  at  the  same  time  believe  that  the  higher  college  and  uni- 
versity training  is  of  still  greater  value  in  the  present  state  of  his 
development,  because  his  advancement  cannot  be  secured  without 
competent  leadership  from  its  own  midst." 

By  this  you  will  see  the  drift  of  public  opinion  as  to  the  possi- 
bility in  the  coming  years  of  the  negro  securing  a  place  in  the 
Church,  as  well  as  in  the  republic  of  letters,  for  which  he  is  fitted. 
The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  for  his  training  the  theo- 
logical schools  in  Gammon  and  Drew ;  the  Presbyterian  has  its  Lin- 
coln University;  the  Congregationalist,  its  Straight;  the  Baptist, 
Spellman;  the  Zion  Methodist,  Livingstone;  the  Episcopalian, 
King's  Hall,  and  the  African  Methodist,  Wilberforce  University. 
These  schools  are  having  among  their  faculties  some  of  the  brightest 
intellects  belonging  to  the  negro  race,  such  as  Bowen,  Scarboro, 
Atkins,  Weaver,  Tunnell  and  Jones.  The  beneficial  results,  I  re-- 
peat,  are  to  be  seen  in  the  capabilities  of  the  negro  to  grapple  with 
the  spirit  of  the  age,  both  in  Church  and  State.  It  will  not  be  out 
of  place  to  give  the  following  figures,  showing  what  the  negro  has 
been  able  to  do  through  the  sanctified  influence  of  the  Church.  He 
is  having  in  school  fully  two  million  children  (public  schools)  ; 
there  are  45,000  students  in  the  higher  institutions ;  30,000  teachers ; 
contributing  thirteen  million  dollars  to  the  cause  of  education; 
acquiring  property  as  follows :  Forty  millions  in  Church  property, 
fifteen  millions  in  schools,  450  millions  in  homes,  335  millions  in 
farms,  and  165  millions  in  personal  property. 

The  teachers  of  the  race  who  are  qualified  by  education  and 
character  are  not  only  teaching  the  masses  how  to  get  ready  to 
die;  they  are  energetically  at  work  teaching  how  to  live  cor- 
rectly in  this  present  time,  by  the  adapting  of  one's  self  to  his 
environments.  Not  only  to  have  adaptability,  but  stability  also; 
as  water  has  adaptability  and  will  take  the  shape  of  whatever  vessel 
it  is  put  into,  it  will  become  anything,  .but  stays  nothing.  The 
teacher  wants  them  to  be  plaster  of  paris,  for  it  retains  its  shape. 
So  the  negro  has  proved  his  adaptability  in  assimilating  the 
civilization  of  the  American  nation,  hut  we  are  still  more  anxious 
for  him  to  prove  his  stability  in  retaining  it  without  any  pressure 
from  outside. 


524  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

N'ow,  to  do  this  we  are  trying  to  impress  upon  his  mind  that  it 
must  be  done  by  mental  and  spiritual  powers,  as  in  all  our  animal 
characteristics  we  are  surpassed  by  the  lower  order,  as  no  greatness 
of  attainments  in  animal  qualities  determines  manhood.  When 
Stephen  was  stoned  those  who  stoned  him  saw  only  a  man  sinking 
down  in  death,  but  Stephen  looked  up  and  exclaimed,  "I  see  Jesus." 
So  must  we  try  to  impress  upon  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  coming 
generation  that  they  must  see  more  than  business,  wealth,  opportu- 
nity, power  and  conquest;  that  they  must  see  the  spiritual  reality 
behind  the  visible  form,  and  when  we  get  to  this  point  we  will  have 
Christ  in  this  life  and  the  life  which  is  to  come. 

And  now,  who  knows  but  that  the  Western  world  is  to  be  the 
theatre  in  which  the  final  drama  of  the  three  boys  shall  be  played  ? 
And  New  York,  metropolis  of  the  Western  Hemisphere,  the  stage 
upon  which  the  different  acts  of  the  drama  are  to  be  performed; 
New  York,  great  in  commerce,  great  in  wealth,  great  in  learning, 
great  in  social  contact;  yet  still  greater  in  religious  endeavor,  as  is 
now  seen  in  this  wonderful  assemblage,  where  fully  eighteen  million 
souls  are  represented  through  thirty  evangelistic  denominations. 
Though  different  in  doctrinal  ideas,  nevertheless,  they  are  one  in 
Christ  Jesus,  the  Lord.  Thus  indicating  Shem,  Ham,  Japhet. 
Shem,  who  went  eastward  establishing  systems  of  religion,  dynasties 
and  b'ngdoms ;  Japhet,  going  northward  instituting  literature,  for- 
mulating treaties  on  civil  government,  science,  commerce  and  art; 
Ham,  going  south  and  westward  erecting  pyramids  symbolizing 
exaltness  and  durability  of  their  thought,  thereby  opening  the  foun- 
tain from  which  has  flown  the  mighty  ocean  into  the  public  of 
letters,  starting  from  the  alphabet.  Thus,  we  repeat  that  the  three 
boys  shall  meet  again,  not  as  master  and  slave,  but  as  men  and 
equals. 

Then  shall  the  truth  be  told  before  the  bar  of  enlightened  public 
opinion  of  the  various  nationalities  of  the  world,  congregated  as  we 
are  to-day.  The  inventive  and  philosophical  German;  the  witty, 
eloquent  and  industrious  Irishman;  the  trafficking,  cunning  Jew; 
the  polite,  fashionable  and  colorless  Frenchman ;  the  liberty  loving, 
aggressive.  God-fearing  Englishman;  the  learned  and  granite- 
minded,  inflexible  Scotchman;  the  musical,  artistic  and  wandering 
Italian;  the  brave,  modest,  olive-eyed  Japanese;  the  pagan  China- 
man; the  unconquered  Indian;  last,  but  not  least,  the  patient,  de- 
vout, forgiving.  Christian  negro.  They  shall  all  meet  as  one  at 
the  throne  of  heavenly  grace. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    EVANGELISTIC    WORK 


The  Rev.  J.  Wilbur  Chapman,  D.D. 


If  the  Church  should  maintain  the  position  which  in  the  plan 
and  purpose  of  God  she  was  ever  meant  to  hold,  special  evangelistic 
meetings  would  be  unnecessary.  I  doubt  not  but  that  it  is  true 
that  an  evangelistic  campaign  is  in  a  sense  a  rebuke  to  the  Church 
as  the  representative  of  Jesus  Christ  on  earth,  but  since  we  are 
all  human,  easily  tempted  and  liable  to  err,  and  therefore  sadly  fail 
in  fulfiling  the  purposes  and  will  of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church, 
it  is  essential  that  every  means  should  be  used  to  recover  the  ground 
lost  because  of  our  failure,  and  to  have  restored  unto  us  the  joy 
of  our  salvation.  The  character  of  the  evangelistic  service  to  be 
held  must  therefore  be  determined  upon,  and  the  question  to  be 
decided  is.  Shall  these  meetings  be  denominational  or  interdenomi- 
national ? 

One  does  not  require  very  much  experience  to  realize  that  it 
is  vastly  easier  to  make  Christians  of  the  unconverted  than  to  man- 
ufacture Presbyterians  or  Methodists  or  Baptists.  It  is  almost 
universally  true  that  at  the  time  of  conversion  the  question  of 
denominational  preference  does  not  enter  into  the  thought  of  the 
one  accepting  Jesus  Christ. 

That  which  saves  the  sinner  is  the  common  property  and  uni- 
versal belief  of  all  evangelical  denominations.  The  denominational 
preference  is  as  a  rule  an  expression  of  a  choice  as  to  form  of  wor- 
ship or  the  interpretation  and  explanation  of  a  doctrine.  In  the 
book  which  was  given  some  Kttle  time  ago  to  the  world,  entitled 
"Hiram  Goff's  Religion,"  the  eccentric  shoemaker  was  represented 
as  saying:  "Denominationalism  is  valuable,  but  it  is  not  every- 
thing. If  you  lose  the  Christ  in  the  Church  and  simply  hold  to 
the  denomination  you  have  very  little  left;  but  if  you  lose  the  de- 
nominational mark  and  hold  to  the  Christ,  which  is  the  heart  of 
the  Church,  you  have  lost  very  little."  That  which  saves  the  sin- 
ner is  the  gift  of  God  and  is  eternal  life,  and  on  the  bestowal  of 
this  gift  no  denomination  has  a  copyright  or  a  monopoly.  Since 
it  is  true,  therefore,  that  with  the  one  who  has  just  accepted  Christ 
the  particular  denomination  is  rarely  considered,  it  would  seem  to 
be  true  that  interdenominational  work  would  the  more  effectually 


526  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

appeal  to  the  masses  of  people  out  of  sjTnpathy  with  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ. 

THE   NEED. 

In  a  financial  paper  published  in  the  West  the  following  sig- 
nificant statement  was  recently  published:  "The  greatest  need  of 
America  to-day  is  not  an  enlarged  navy,  nor  an  increased  standing 
army,  nor  protection  of  the  tariff,  nor  the  impartation  of  new  life 
to  the  American  industries,  but  a  revival  of  old-fashioned  piety, 
that  sort  of  piety  which  in  other  days  made  the  head  of  the  house- 
hold take  time  enough  in  the  morning  to  call  his  family  and  his 
household  about  him  for  prayer  and  led  him  to  give  up  his  work 
a  little  bit  earlier  on  Thursday  evening  in  order  that  those  about 
him  might  have  the  privilege  of  attending  the  mid-week  services 
of  the  Church."  It  is,  alas,  too  true  that  family  religion  is  almost 
a  thing  of  the  past  in  certain  quarters,  and  when  this  is  true  the 
nation  is  in  danger.  Nothing  could  restore  the  home  to  its  former 
position  of  power  like  a  great  revival  of  religion.  A  revival  is  also 
needed  in  the  business  life  of  the  country.  The  recent  evidences 
of  greed  and  graft,  the  remarkable  exposure  of  dishonesty  in  high 
places,  all  indicate  that  abnost  more  than  ever  before  we  need  a 
gracious  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

THE  REVIVAL  HERE. 

I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  saying  until  recently  that  we  were 
soon  to  be  visited  in  this  country  with  a  great  awakening.  I  have 
now  changed  my  statement  and  believe  that  the  American  revival 
is  now  on.  It  is  manifesting  itself  in  such  an  influence  as  flows 
forth  from  the  White  House,  and  from  the  Executive  Mansions  in 
States  like  Indiana  and  Missouri,  and  from  those  who  have  in 
charge  city  governments  like  the  cities  of  Minneapolis  and  Phila- 
delphia. It  is  manifesting  itself  in  the  quickened  consciences  of 
the  American  people. 

Governor  Folk  of  Missouri  recently  made  use  of  the  follow- 
ing significant  expression: 

The  next  few  years  will  be  distinguished  as  the  time  in  which  in- 
dustrial problems  are  settled,  the  reign  of  special  privileges  brought  to 
an  end.  the  doctrine  of  equal  rights  fixed  in  national  policies  and  in  the 
conscience  of  mankind. 

The  revolt  from  political  oppression  is  rearing  its  head  in  city  after 
city  and  State  after  State.  A  civic  regeneration  is  going  on  all  over  the 
land.  The  elections  of  last  week  were  but  the  taking  of  the  first  breast- 
works of  the  opposition.  The  fight  will  go  on  with  unceasing  vigor,  and 
the  time  will  i\ever  come  when  the  people  can  rest  on  their  arms  in  idleness. 


INTERDENOMINATIONAL    EVANGELISTIC    WORK  527 

And,  last  but  not  least,  it  is  manifested  in  the  fact  that  Churches 
everywhere  are  being  aroused  to  the  fact  that  the  unsaved  are  not 
indifferent  to  the  Gospel  and  may  be  won  in  great  numbers  to 
Christ  if  only  approached  in  the  proper  way.  We  may  have  as 
much  of  this  revival  as  we  wish.    It  is  ours  for  the  claiming. 

THE    PROBLEM    SOLVED. 
Denominational  evangelistic  campaigns  fail  of  the  very  greatest 
results  for  the  following  reasons : 

First.  No  single  church  is  able  to  arrest  the  attention  of  the 
city,  and  the  chief  value  of  the  great  campaign  is  the  creation  of 
an  atmosphere.  The  majority  of  ministers  know  that  their  work 
is  difficult  because  there  seems  to  be  an  insurmountable  barrier 
between  them  and  the  unsaved.  To  have  this  barrier  removed  makes 
the  work  easy.  A  great  interdenominational  campaign  compels 
thoughtful  men  everywhere  to  stop  and  think,  and  even  the  care- 
less and  indifferent  are  arrested. 

Second.  It  is  not  possible  in  a  denominational  campaign  to 
direct  the  entire  force  of  the  Church.  If  the  work  is  progressing 
in  a  Presbyterian  body  the  Methodists  and  Baptists  may  have  their 
attention  diverted  by  social  duties  which  would  prevent  their  giving 
their  heartiest  sympathy  to  the  work  in  progress.  It  is  only  when 
the  entire  Church  forgets  the  world  and  the  things  of  the  world 
that  the  work  is  effective. 

Third.  A  denominational  campaign  is  ofttimes  calculated  to 
arouse  prejudice.  So  long  as  the  unsaved  feel  that  we  are  attempt- 
ing to  win  them  to  our  particular  Church  they  are  disposed  to 
be  indifferent.  When  they  realize  that  our  first  and  principal  aim 
is  to  win  them  to  Christ  they  cannot  but  be  impressed. 

PROGRESS. 

I  have  had  an  experience  recently  myself  which  indicates  that 
the  bond  of  sympathy  and  union  between  the  Churches  is  growing 
rapidly.  I  have  within  the  past  few  weeks  received  from  the  Bishop 
of  an  Episcopal  diocese  an  invitation  to  preach  in  an  Episcopal 
church.  I  was  graciously  received  by  the  Episcopal  ministers, 
and  without  vestments  of  any  sort  stood  in  the  Episcopal  pulpit 
to  preach  the  Gospel.  At  the  close  of  my  message  a  special  prayer 
was  offered  for  Church  unity,  and  as  I  left  the  church  the  great 
audience  was  singing,  "Blest  Be  the  Tie  That  Binds  Our  Hearts  in 
Christian  Love." 


528  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

I  heard  some  time  ago  a  story  which  aptly  illustrates  the  sort 
of  an  evangelistic  campaign  for  which  I  am  now  contending.  Out 
on  one  of  the  great  wheat  farms  of  the  West  a  little  child  wandered 
away  and  was  lost  for  a  day  and  a  night.  The  parents  and  em- 
ployes on  the  farm  sought  the  child  without  success.  After  a 
while  it  was  suggested  that  the  neighbors  and  people  from  the 
nearby  town  should  come  together  and  unitedly  search,  and  they 
did  it  in  this  fashion.  They  stood  in  a  solid  line  stretching  out  at 
arm's  length  until  the  company  of  people  was  long  enough  to 
almost  reach  across  the  field,  and  then  as  a  solid  army  they  moved 
through  the  wheat  until  at  last  there  was  a  cry  from  one  who  had 
found  the  little  one  nearer  dead  than  alive,  and  carried  hiTn  back 
to  the  house.  It  lingered  for  the  night  and  then  passed  away,  djdng 
as  a  result  of  its  awful  experience.  The  only  way  in  which  I  would 
change  the  illustration  is  this:  That  we  who  move  forward  as  a 
solid  army  representing  all  the  denominations  vidll  actually  find 
those  who  are  dead  in  sin,  but  we  have  the  secret  of  life  eternal, 
and  under  the  power  of  the  message  we  bring  the  dead  may  live. 


EVANGELISM  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  CHURCHES 


The  Rev.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  D.D. 


All  things  in  Jesus'  life  converged  toward  one  hour — ^that  hour 
on  Mount  Olivet,  when  He  pointed  to  the  towns  and  cities  lying  in 
the  plain  beneath,  and  bade  His  disciples  go  forth  to  spread  the 
evangel  of  God's  love.  For  three  and  thirty  years  He  labored  to 
achieve  the  evangel.  Every  step  of  the  way  from  Bethlehem  to  Cal- 
vary and  the  open  sepulcher  marched  toward  Olivet,  when  the  re- 
demptive message  should  be  made  ready.  His  earliest,  latest,  pro- 
foimdest,  last  thought  was  the  evangel  of  God's  love.  Great  was 
His  body  of  teaching,  that  explained  the  evangel;  wondrous  His 
sinless  life — it  illustrated  the  evangel.  Divine  His  sacrificial  death 
— it  lent  eflBcacy  to  the  evangel.  He  promised  to  His  disciple  band 
the  Comforter,  to  interpret  the  evangel.  But  once  all  things  were 
ready,  and  world  evangel  was  complete.  He  committed  it  into  the 
hands  of  His  apostles,  to  be  spread  everywhere.  And  from  that 
hour  the  test  of  every  man  and  institution  whatsoever  was  power 


EVANGELIi^M    THE    HOPE    OF    THE    CHURCHES  52© 

to  spread  the  evangel  and  propagate  Christ's  ideals.  Wisdom  is 
usefid,  if  it  enforces  the  evangel ;  gold  is  useful  if  it  supports  the 
evangel;  eloquence  is  good  if  it  becomes  wings  and  feet  for  the 
evangel. 

Setting  forth  from  Olivet,  His  evangel  journeys  like  a  beautiful 
summer  and  civilization,  from  continent  to  continent,  and  clime  to 
cKme.  Christ's  evangel  is  leaven  that  becomes  a  loaf,  a  seed  that 
enlarges  into  a  shock,  a  spring  that  widens  into  a  river,  a  sun  that 
hurls  its  beams  out  into  every  comer  of  the  dark  world.  Every 
Church  is  to  be  a  teaching  centre  for  its  disciple  band,  but  every 
Church  is  also  to  be  a  centre  from  which  the  evangel  is  spread.  The 
decay  of  the  evangelistic  spirit  in  the  minister  or  the  people  is  a 
searching  criticism  of  those  who  profess  His  faith,  just  as  a  declin- 
ing audience  is  a  deadly  criticism  of  the  sermon.  In  the  centre  of 
the  grain  of  wheat  is  a  golden  spot  that  is  at  once  the  seed  germ 
and  the  world's  food.  So  at  the  centre  of  this  divine  book  our 
sacraments  and  the  Church's  institutions  is  a  golden  heart — the 
evangel  of  God's  love  to  sinful  men. 

THE  RETURN  OF  THE  WORKING  PEOPLE. 

More  wonderful  than  all  else  is  the  eagerness  with  which  the 
common  people  listen  to  the  evangel  of  love.  Ten  years  ago  a  man 
could  get  an  audience  by  the  lecture  or  the  popular  address.  Biog- 
raphy, historical  themes,  the  romance  of  heroes,  social  problems, 
would  draw  people  to  a  common  centre  to  hear  an  exposition  of 
literary  truth  or  social  truth.  But  suddenly  all  is  changed.  A  new 
spiritual  warmth  has  crept  into  the  air.  Go  where  you  will  now, 
vou  can  get  an  audience  of  the  common  people  on  any  day  in  the 
week,  on  almost  any  hour  of  the  day,  in  theatre  or  church,  on  street 
corner  or  in  park.  During  the  last  eight  months  I  have  preached, 
out  of  doors,  I  suppose  over  fifty  times.  Sometimes  from  a  plat- 
form in  a  park,  many  times  in  the  grove  and  Chautauqua.  At  noon 
in  theatres,  again  and  again  at  night  in  the  opera  house,  a  score  of 
times  to  working  men,  at  the  dinner  hour.  I  have  seen  five  hundred 
men  give  up  twenty-five  minutes  of  their  noon  hour  to  gather 
around  a  wagon  to  listen  to  a  discussion  of  the  importance  of  Sun- 
day, of  the  duty  of  educating  their  children,  on  temperance,  on 
patriotism,  on  righting  one's  record,  and  becoming  friends  with 
God.  On  conscience,  on  how  God  forgives  sin,  on  living  above 
poverty  and  trouble,  on  forgiveness  of  one's  enemies,  on  the  father- 
hood of  God,  on  what  Christ  may  be  to  a  working  man.    On  im- 


530  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

mortality,  and  the  hope  that  if  a  man  who  has  made  a  failure  of 
life,  and  has  repented  of  his  sins,  and  been  forgiven  of  God,  may 
retrieve  himself  beyond. 

Standing  in  a  cart  a  while  ago,  at  the  noon  hour,  I  told  a  group 
of  several  hundred  workingmen  to  go  on  smoking  while  I  was 
speaking.  Do  you  say  that  these  men  are  not  interested  in  the 
great  themes  of  God  and  the  soul?  I  answer,  that  before  my 
twenty-five  minutes'  address  was  complete  the  pipes  had  all  gone 
out.  And  when  I  was  through  I  saw  from  two  to  four  hundred 
men  reach  for  a  match,  scratch  it  on  the  thigh,  and  light  their 
pipes,  while  they  stood  and  discussed,  and  talked  for  a  few  minutes 
before  hastening  back  to  their  work.  Why,  in  Brooklyn,  there  are 
fifteen  shop  meetings  at  the  noon  hour  where  the  men  give  half  of 
their  hour  to  a  study  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  there  are  from  fifty 
to  three  hundred  men  in  a  class.  In  Cleveland  these  noon  shop 
meetings  in  one  week  included  20,000  men.  And  this  movement  is 
spreading  over  the  entire  country.  The  hope  of  the  land  is  in  our 
working  classes,  in  the  boys  in  our  villages,  on  the  farms  and  the 
working  people  in  our  factories.  With  himgry  hearts  the  people 
are  ready  to  listen  to  the  old  and  ever  new  evangel.  Oh,  it  is  a 
wonderful  moment  in  the  histor}^  of  the  Christian  Church.  Strategic 
the  union  of  events  in  the  apostolic  age,  when  society  was  ripe  for 
the  new  message !  Marvelous  the  plasticity  of  the  age  of  Cromwell 
and  Hampden !  Plastic  the  people  under  the  stroke  of  Wesley  and 
Whitfield,  but  never  in  all  history  have  the  common  people  been 
more  responsive,  more  plastic,  more  eager  for  guidance.  The 
Churches,  they  think,  are  for  those  who  are  already  members,  and 
the  pews  are  all  taken.  But  happy  are  those  who  go  out  into  the 
highways,  to  the  unchurched  multitudes,  to  be  bread  for  their  hun- 
ger, light  for  their  darkness,  to  be  life  for  those  who  are  in  the 
shadow  of  death. 

WHAT  THE  FEDERATION  CAN  DO  TO  PROMOTE  THE  EVANGELIS- 
TIC MOVEMENT. 

Now  comes  the  question,  what  this  great  Federation,  represent- 
ing eighteen  millions  of  disciples,  can  do  for  a  world-wide  move- 
ment. One  thing,  plainly,  we  can  do — each  preacher  can  return 
to  his  own  church,  determined  not  to  give  up  his  Simday  night 
service,  along  the  old  lines.  A  good  sermon  in  the  morning  writes 
a  message  on  the  hearer's  mind;  it  ought  to  remain  on  the  tablets 
of  memory  throughout  the  week,  as  a  mother  principle.    To  preach 


EVANGELISM    THE    HOPE    OF    THE    CHURCHES  531 

another  to  the  same  man  in  the  evening  is  to  wipe  off  the  inscrip- 
tion of  the  morning,  and  put  another  on  the  blackboard  of  memory. 
Perhaps  what  with  the  morning  service  and  the  Bible  schools,  or 
the  family  church,  the  evening  service  is  unnecessary  for  the 
regular  members.  That  ought  to  leave  the  preacher  free  for  his 
evangelistic  work  and  the  active  propaganda.  Let  him  go  with  his 
best  workers  to  the  theatre,  in  the  heart  of  the  factory  town,  and 
call  the  people  in.  And  there  let  him  tell  the  great  story,  that  this 
is  our  Father's  house,  and  that  God's  face  is  light  and  His  name  is 
love;  that  this  is  a  moral  universe,  that  to  sin  is  folly  and  death, 
that  to  seek  pleasure  by  passion  or  disobedience  to  God  is  as  irra- 
tional as  to  try  to  satisfy  hunger  by  eating  redhot  coals,  or  to 
satisfy  thirst  by  drinking  scalding  water. 

That  the  solution  of  all  these  vexed  problems  that  give  us 
trampled  cornfields  and  bloody  streets  is  in  the  Golden  Eule,  the 
spirit  of  good  will  and  obedience  to  the  laws  of  God.  Why,  these 
forty  closed  theatres  on  Sunday  afternoon  and  Sunday  night  are 
challenges  to  the  preachers  of  New  York.  And  mark  one  word — 
last  Sunday  night  a  great  theatre  was  opened  for  a  play,  for  the 
first  time.  The  manager  kept  within  the  law  by  not  raising  or 
lowering  his  curtain.  His  plea  was  that  there  were  1,000,000 
people  in  New  York  who  had  nowhere  to  go  in  the  cold  months  of 
the  winter.  Now  either  we  can  go  into  these  theatres  on  Sunday 
nights  and  reach  the  people,  or  we  vsdll  find  within  ten  years  that 
Sunday  night  will  be  a  theatre  night  in  practically  every  city  from 
New  York  to  San  Francisco.  In  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the 
country  people  were  unreached,  God  raised  up  Wesley  in  England, 
to  reach  them  by  open  air  preaching.  In  the  nineteenth  century 
God  raised  up  General  Booth  to  reach  the  submerged  classes  in  the 
great  cities.  Now  the  hour  has  come,  in  a  country  where  open  air 
preaching  is  impossible  for  eight  months  in  the  year,  for  some  new 
apostle  of  evangelism  to  rise  up  and  organize  a  new  denomination ! 
To  utilize  all  the  theatres  of  the  country  in  the  great  cities  and  the 
small  factory  towns  for  evangelistic  preaching  on  Sunday  evenings 
and  Sunday  afternoons.  If  we  are  going  to  keep  the  Sunday  in 
American  life  we  must  use  the  Sunday.  What  folly  for  the  Church 
to  be  in  full  retreat  before  the  downtown  masses  and  marching 
ever  toward  the  suburbs !  What  folly  for  men  to  raise  $200,000  to 
build  a  new  church  away  uptown,  a  church  that  shall  be  open 
only  on  Sunday,  and  closed  during  all  the  week,  when  forty  theatres 
are  open  during  all  the  week  and  closed  on  Sunday !  I  have  found 


532  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

that  the  people,  assembled  in  these  meetings,  by  their  offerings 
support  the  movement. 

My  young  brother,  with  your  great  audience  in  the  morning 
and  your  Bible  school  in  the  afternoon,  stop  breaking  your  heart 
over  a  small  Sunday  night  audience !  Get  out  your  knife  and  cut 
the  red  tape.  With  courage  launch  out  into  the  deep.  Tell  your 
deacons  and  elders  to  go  to  bed  and  sleep  there,  instead  of  in 
church.  Give  yourselves  to  the  people,  in  sympathy  and  compas- 
sion, and  an  abandon  of  service.  Lecture  and  support  yourself! 
Pour  your  life  blood  out  in  unstinted  tides,  and  leave  the  issue  with 
God  and  the  common  people.  Know  that  the  people  will  never 
betray  any  confidence  reposed  in  them.  You  have  come  to  the 
Kingdom  in  one  of  the  greatest  moments  in  the  history  of  the 
Church  and  the  history  of  the  world.  Don't  be  afraid  of  new 
methods  in  evangelistic  work.  Everything  else  in  society  has 
changed,  excepting  the  routine  of  the  Church.  Having  traveled  in 
palace  cars  for  thirty  years,  it  is  about  time  that  we  clergymen 
climbed  down  out  of  our  old  ox-carts  and  met  the  new  times  with 
the  new  methods.  God  hath  set  before  us  an  open  door  and  we 
must  enter  it. 

A     FOKWARD    MOVEMENT     FOR    ALL    THE     ENGLISH-SPEAKING 
PEOPLES. 

It  is  also  to  be  hoped  that  our  American  Churches  will  unite 
with  our  English  brethren  in  their  plans  for  an  eight  days'  mission, 
some  time  next  spring  or  summer.  The  great  leaders  of  the  old 
motherland  are  planning  for  meetings  that  shall  be  held  in  every 
cathedral  and  church  and  chapel  and  hall  in  England,  for  meet- 
ings in  the  parks  in  the  afternoon,  and  meetings  at  the  corners  of 
the  streets  at  night — meetings  at  which  educators,  editors,  jurists, 
statesmen,  preachers,  all  who  are  interested  in  the  things  of  the 
soul,  and  who  believe  that  in  a  moral  universe  you  can  have  a 
great  nation  only  by  making  great  individuals — all  these  are  to 
unite.  Now,  when  the  full  announcements  of  their  plans  are  made, 
can  the  leaders  of  the  religious  world  in  America  do  anything 
better  than  to  recommend  to  all  our  Churches  a  recognition  of  that 
week?  What  if  for  eight  days  our  pastors  should  leave  their  great 
churches  and  go  out  through  the  cities  speaking  on  the  great 
themes  of  the  day?  Suppose  that  on  one  day  every  man  in  the 
city  was  made  to  think  about  the  importance  of  the  Sunday  as  the 
soul's  library  day,  its  brooding  day,  its  day  for  the  ideals,  in  that 


EVANGELISM    THE    HOPE    OF    THE    CHURCHES  533 

the  very  springs  of  poetry,  and  invention,  and  eloquence,  and 
liberty,  and  inspiration  are  threatened,  if  it  be  turned  into  a  day 
of  pleasure  and  physical  exercise,  until  all  the  people  become  mere 
pleasure  getters,  dollar  chasers,  and  breeders  of  more  dollar  chasers 
— until  the  visions  die  out  into  the  light  of  a  common  dead  day. 

^^^at  if  we  discussed  the  importance  of  parents  nurturing  the 
great  religious  ideals  in  their  children,  emphasizing  the  fact  that 
the  world's  noblest  souls,  the  poets  and  reformers  and  scholars  and 
statesmen  have  been  reared,  line  by  line  and  precept  upon  precept. 
What  if  for  one  day  every  merchant  and  politician  and  grafter,  and 
man  who  has  betrayed  his  ideals  in  his  haste  to  get  rich,  were  to 
find  that  the  whole  city  was  thinking  about  the  testimony  of  that 
rugged  old  hero,  who  said :  "1  have  seen  the  wicked  flourish  like  a 
green  bay  tree,  and  when  a  few  years  had  passed,  I  looked  toward 
his  house,  and  lo,  he  was  not ;  for  the  memory  of  the  wicked  shall 
rot."  What  if  for  one  day  we  told  the  common  people  the  old  story 
of  the  pity  of  Christ,  of  His  compassion  to  the  poor,  and  made 
them  see  that  Christianity  is  simply  a  great,  dear  Person,  standing 
with  outstretched  hands.  Our  political  leaders  would  know  how 
to  handle  a  week  like  this !  They  are  not  afraid  of  excitement  or 
large  movements. 

AN  APPEAL  TO  PASTORS. 

In  this  critical  hour,  the  one  duty  is  for  heart  searching.  Per- 
haps the  time  has  come  for  us  all  to  make  a  fundamental  change 
in  our  methods.  For  some  years,  as  preachers,  we  have  been  in 
the  critical  era.  Our  spirit  has  been  the  analytic  spirit.  Becoming 
apologists,  we  have  argued,  exhibited  proofs,  Christianity  has  been 
in  a  crucible.  But  now  that  the  Higher  Criticism  has  passed,  the 
great  essentials  of  religion  have  come  out  with  no  smell  of  fire  on 
the  garments.  The  Bible  is  literature,  but  the  Bible  is  full  of  life 
— divine  life.  As  never  before  it  is  a  two-edged  sword,  that  burns 
while  it  cuts.  But  some  have  been  mere  teachers  and  historians 
and  lecturers  so  long  that  they  have  over-emphasized  the  method. 
Now  comes  the  hour  for  the  evangel,  and  the  spreading  of  the 
evangel.  Christianity  has  won  out  all  along  the  line.  We  have  an 
evangel  of  God's  love,  we  know  the  reasons  why  we  have  it;  we 
know  what  it  is  worth;  we  are  no  longer  on  the  defensive;  and 
lifted  up  on  this  Olivet,  the  old,  sweet  words  are  heard :  "Go  ye  out 
into  all  the  world  and  spread  the  evangel."  And  it  is  the  evangel- 
istic note  that  is  to  save  our  preaching ;  a  passion  for  Jesus  Christ, 


534  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

and  a  passion  for  men  were  the  characteristics  of  the  apostles  and 
of  Paul.    Passion  is  the  one  thing  that  is  left  to  the  preacher. 

The  press  sows  the  land  with  wisdom,  and  the  preacher  has 
ceased  to  be  the  only  teacher.  The  magazines  publish  universal 
information;  the  preacher  has  ceased  to  be  the  only  instructor. 
The  scholars  are  here  to  write  the  essays,  the  poets  are  here  to  write 
the  songs,  the  novelists  are  here  portraying  reform  and  putting 
life  in  philanthropy,  but  there  is  one  thing  that  libraries,  and 
books,  and  magazines,  and  essays  cannot  give — passion.  Jesus 
found  religion  a  system  of  morals;  He  left  it  a  holy  hunger  and 
passion  for  God.  He  found  religion  a  thing  of  self-culture;  He 
left  a  flaming  heart.  He  found  a  system  of  Judaistic  rules,  like 
unto  a  musical  score  of  Handel.  He  left  religion  a  hallelujah 
chorus,  glorious  in  prayer  and  life.  The  sermon  must  cease  to  be 
an  essay  with  a  subject,  the  sermon  must  be  a  theme  with  an  object. 
The  minister  must  cease  to  read  what  gives  him  culture  and  think 
of  what  can  save  broken-hearted  and  sinful  men.  They  tell  us  there 
are  a  million  folk  in  the  palaces  and  hovels  of  this  city  that  never 
cross  the  threshold  of  a  Church — Catholic  or  Protestant — and  forty 
millions  in  the  land.  Verily  the  Church  is  encamped  on  the  edge 
of  a  dark  continent  of  worldliness  and  selfishness  and  pleasure  and 
sin.  Through  the  air  comes  the  old  sweet  searching  command, 
shivering  through  us  like  a  trumpet  call,  "Oh,  to  die  for  men's 
souls !  And  live  to  win  their  lives !  Here  and  now  let  us  forswear 
ease."  Ease  will  come  yonder.  Here  and  now  let  us  perchance 
postpone  culture — there  will  be  time  for  that  there.  One  passion 
ours — to  spread  the  evangel.  One  purpose — to  gather  our  multi- 
tude in  out  of  the  wilderness  and  lead  them  toward  the  shining 
citJ^  Enough  for  us  that  for  the  broken-hearted  and  the  sinful  we 
have  shown  the  path' that  leads  to  the  Christ,  who  is  indeed  the 
heart  of  Christianity  and  religion — a  great,  dear  Person,  standing 
with  outstretched  hands. 


A  UNITED   CHURCH  AND  THE  NATIONAL 
LIFE 


THE    POPULAR    CONSCIENCE 


The  Hon.  Peter  S.  Grosscup 


Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

I  know  of  no  word,  no  sentence,  no  entire  language  large  enough, 
and  plastic  enough,  to  put  fully  before  your  minds  all  that  lies 
embodied  in  the  phrase.  The  National  Life.  The  side  of  that  life, 
perhaps,  that  comes  first  to  mind,  is  the  political  side — the  majestic 
procession  of  political  development  that  out  of  scattered  local 
authorities  has  built  up  on  this  continent  a  massive  central 
authority;  that  out  of  races  poured  in  from  every  quarter  of  the 
globe  has  created  a  distinctly  new  race  of  people ;  and  that  from  a 
little  republican  experiment,  lost  sight  of  almost  in  the  remoteness 
of  a  new  and  faraway  hemisphere,  has  created  a  nation  great 
among  nations — one  of  the  three  or  four  great  nations  of  the  earth. 

The  emblem  of  the  nation's  life  is  the  flag.  Established  first 
along  this  eastern  rim  of  the  continent,  the  flag  now  floats  over  soil 
belonging  to  the  Eepublic  half  way  around  the  earth.  At  the 
moment  that  the  morning  sun,  rising  out  of  the  Atlantic,  begins  to 
pour  its  rays  into  the  national  colors  that  stand  guard  over  the 
Atlantic,  the  afternoon  sun  is  still  lighting  up  our  colors  in  the  far 
Pacific,  some  portion  of  the  Eepublic  at  every  moment  of  the  day 
being  under  the  full  light  of  the  great  orb  of  light  on  its  way  to  the 
meridian. 

But  interesting  as  our  territorial  development  is,  our  constitu- 
tional development  is  still  more  interesting.  To  say  of  us  that  we 
are  a  self-governed  people  is  an  old  phrase.  To  say  that  we  are  a 
self-developed  people  is  accepted  usually  as  meaning  that  without 
much  aid  from  the  outside  world  we  have  originated  and  developed 
the  material  side  of  our  national  life.  But  when  history  comes  to 
be  finally  written  it  will  be  disclosed  that  in  a  much  deeper  sense 
we  have  been  self-governed  and  self-developed — the  evolution  of  a 
strong,  unified  nation  out  of  liberty  loving,  independent  commu- 
nities, the  massing  of  power  without  taking  anything  from  liberty. 
The  theme  of  that  story  will  be  this :  That  beginning  with  liberty 
rescued  from  power — the  rights  of  the  individual  man  rescued  from 
government  massed  into  tyranny — ^those  rights  have  been  remassed 
into  a  government  so  liberal  that  the  liberty  and  strength  of  each 

537 


638  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

individual  is  unhampered,  and  so  powerful  that  behind  each  indi- 
vidual is  the  weight  of  the  nation's  strength — individual  opportu- 
nity backed  by  the  nation  as  a  whole. 

Commingled  with  this  political  life  is  the  nation's  commercial 
and  industrial  life.  Some  one  has  said  that  were  the  people  of  the 
earth  to  sell  to  the  people  of  some  other  planet  all  that  has  been 
accumulated  during  the  life  of  mankind  and  at  the  money  value 
now  set  by  mankind  upon  such  accumulations,  the  sum  realized, 
if  laid  out  in  living  on  our  present  scale,  would  be  spent  and  gone 
in  less  than  three  years — the  race  left  after  that  brief  holiday  to 
begin  all  over  again,  with  nothing  to  start  upon.  The  calculation 
reveals  why  the  interest  in  the  struggle  for  livelihood  is  the  pre- 
dominant interest.  As  a  race  we  are  not,  economically  speaking,  on 
solid  ground.  We  are  in  a  craft.  Down  stream  lies  famine;  up 
stream  plenty.  But  to  get  up  stream,  to  remain  even  where  we 
are,  requires  that  our  strength  be  put  to  the  oars.  Commerce  and 
industry  of  every  kind  are  the  oars  that  keep  us  from  drifting  down 
stream. 

Thirty-six  millions  of  our  people  look  to  the  workshop  for 
bread.  To  them,  at  least,  the  possessing  thought  is  looms,  and 
shafts,  and  wheels;  the  subterranean  tunnels  through  which  the 
coal  and  ore,  laid  aside  by  nature,  are  transposed  to  the  uses  of 
men;  the  great  furnaces  and  sheds  in  which  the  transformation  is 
completed;  the  great  stacks  that  kindle  new  lights  in  the  sky  at 
night;  the  straggling  tenements  that,  along  river  and  mountain, 
crouch  close  to  these  lights ;  the  economic  order  of  things  that  holds 
these  thirty-six  millions  to  the  rest  of  the  world;  and,  acuter  per- 
haps than  all  other  thought,  the  attitude  that  the  rest  of  the  world 
takes  toward  them. 

Millions  more  look  for  bread  to  the  railroads,  to  the  flashing 
signals,  the  changing  switches,  the  flying  trains.  Millions  more  to 
the  great  ships  that,  in  every  port  of  the  world,  amid  the  flags  of 
the  other  nations,  are  planting  the  commercial  flag  of  America ;  and 
to  the  little  craft  that  away  out  upon  the  submerged  banks  fading 
into  the  mist  gather  cargoes  that  are  to  add  to  the  food  supply  of 
the  nation.  Millions  more  look  to  the  counting  house,  to  the  mer- 
cantile establishment.  Millions  are  in  the  country,  canopied  by 
the  sky,  set  apart  by  circling  hills  and  green  woods — stage  scenes 
all  their  own — from  the  rest  of  mankind,  while  occupied  in  getting 
from  meadow  and  grain  field  all  that  meadow  and  grain  field  can 
give.     But  in  this  industrial  and  commercial  life,  as  in  the  nation's 


THE    POPULAR    CO^i SCIENCE  539 

political  life,  the  process  of  massing  is  going  on— individual  ener- 
gies massing  into  a  united  power.  And  here,  too,  as  in  the  nation's 
political  life,  the  time  is  coming  when  the  massed  energies  will  be 
wielded  so  as  to  take  nothing  from  the  man,  but  to  put  behind  him 
— behind  the  independence  and  opportunity  of  each  individual 
man — the  weight  and  momentum  that  honest  concentration  gives. 

Commingled  with  the  nation's  political,  commercial  and  indus- 
trial life  is  what  may  be  called  the  benevolent  side  of  the  nation's 
life.  Nowhere  else,  and  at  no  previous  time,  has  so  much  been  pro- 
vided for  the  help  of  others,  or  so  well  provided.  The  school,  the 
college,  the  university,  are  the  thought  of  people  for  the  education 
of  other  people.  The  hospital  is  the  thought  of  people  for  the  alle- 
viation of  suffering  of  other  people.  The  asylum  is  the  thought 
of  people  for  the  infirmities  of  other  people.  Wherever  a  tower 
stands  out  from  the  slums,  or  a  spire  shoots  up  from  some  grove, 
the  hiLman  impulse  thus  marked  is  an  impulse  for  others.  And 
here,  too,  the  process  of  concentration  is  in  motion — the  enlight- 
ened process  that,  giving  full  play  to  the  individual  love  for  others, 
allies  that  love  with  the  whole  movement  that  is  going  on— that 
benevolence  may  not  waste  itself  in  overlapping  or  leave  waste 
places  that  by  proper  concentration  might  have  been  supplied  out 
of  the  abundance  at  hand. 

Another  side  that  cannot  be  overlooked  in  any  review  of  the 
nation's  life  is  what  may  be  called  the  nation's  domestic  side — the 
breaking  up,  when  the  sun  has  gone  down,  of  all  the  great  common 
concerns  in  which  men  are  woven  as  threads  in  a  common  cloth  into 
nearly  twenty  million  separate  and  independent  concerns  called 
Home.  Walk  out  some  evening  after  sunset,  through  some  quiet 
street  or  along  a  country  road;  note  here  and  there  a  light  come 
out,  emblem  that  within  that  window  an  independent  people  are 
living  their  independent  home  life ;  bring  to  mind  that  all  over  this 
land  lights  like  this  are  coming  out  from  other  windows,  emblems 
of  other  independent  people  living  their  independent  home  lives; 
bring  to  mind  that  though  the  lights  shine  far  and  wide,  twinkling 
like  scattered  stars  over  the  great  plains  of  the  West,  there  is  no 
home  so  remote  that  unto  itself  it  is  not  sufficient;  and  though 
the  lights  shine  thick  in  town  or  city  street,  there  is  no  home 
that  is  not  remote  enough  that  it  is  not  in  the  highest  measure 
independent  of  all  others ;  put  this  picture  before  your  mind,  and 
some  impression  will  have  come  to  you  of  the  space  filled  in  the 
nation's  life  by  these  millions  of  little  republics,  into  which  the  life 


510  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

of  the  greater  republic  every  evening  dissolves,  and  on  whose  foun- 
dations the  security  of  the  greater  republic  at  all  time  rests. 

But  here,  too,  although  the  possessing  thought  is  the  individual 
home,  there  is  at  work  the  modern  process  that  draws  individual 
entities  into  common  action.  No  longer  is  the  fruit  laid  upon  our 
breakfast  table  brought  from  our  own  gardens;  it  is  brought,  in 
common  with  that  which  goes  upon  every  other  breakfast  table, 
from  the  gardens  of  the  earth.  It  is  a  massing  of  our  energies 
that  lays  upon  our  table  each  day  the  thought  of  the  world;  that 
puts  each  house  in  the  land  within  speaking  distance  of  every  other 
house ;  that  moves  as  by  common  fm pulse  every  fireside  the  country 
over,  flashing  around  its  circle  the  joy  or  the  catastrophe  that  has 
come  the  earth  over  into  the  hearts  of  men. 

But  why  continue  to  epitomize.  Could  we  mount  to  some  high 
ground,  whence  this  broadened  vision  and  sharpened  insight  could 
be  surveyed,  the  whole  vast  scene;  could  we  compass  our  political 
dominion  that,  circling  the  globe  upon  an  unbroken  band  of  sun- 
light, is  developing  the  still  greater  underlying  purpose  for  which 
it  was  instituted ;  could  we  take  in  the  great  industries  the  countr}- 
over,  every  industry  in  action,  feeling  their  throb  on  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  millions  to  which  those  industries  are  the  world; 
could  the  farms  be  unrolled  as  on  a  map  and  the  heart  of  the  farmer 
photograpTied  l^efore  our  eyes;  could  we  witness  at  one  glance  the 
thousand  flying  trains,  piercing  darkness  and  daylight,  meadow 
and  mountain,  like  projectiles  from  mighty  guns ;  could  we  measure 
at  their  true  value  the  heroism  of  the  men  who  hold  the  reins  on 
these  missiles  of  civilization,  and  of  the  women  who  watch  and  wait 
for  the  men  at  home :  could  we  measure  in  one  look  the  benevolence 
of  America;  could  the  homes  of  America  stand  out  to  our  eyes  as 
the  stars  stand  out  to  one  looking  into  the  sky,  each  star  a  region 
by  itself,  but  subject  to  an  order  that  involves  the  universe;  were 
every  material  thing  within  the  boundaries  of  the  nation,  and  every 
thought  and  hope  that  centers  aroimd  these  material  things,  brought 
into  the  eye;  were  we  to  grasp  the  great  law  of  social  gravitation 
that  holds  these  things,  one  and  all  together,  bringing  them  every 
moment  more  closely  together  even  as  they  swing  their  independent 
orbits;  were  all  these  clearly  seen  and  clearly  comprehended,  one- 
half  would  not  yet  have  been  told — the  great  primal  fountain  of  the 
nation's  life,  the  depths  out  of  which  all  things  else  spring,  would 
remain  untouched. 

I  stood  one  night  on  a  busy  corner  of  a  busy  street.     Up  and 


THE    POPULAR    CONSCIENCE 


541 


down  past  the  place  I  stood  moved  the  people-laden  cars,  propelled 
by  a  power  I  could  not  see.  I  looked  across  the  square.  A  splendid 
tower  lifted  itself  into  the  night  sky,  banked  with  electric  stars,  as 
if  the  young  stars  had  swarmed  and  settled  there.  Up  the  street 
and  down  the  street,  as  far  as  eye  could  travel,  other  swarms  had 
settled  singly,  in  bunches,  outdoors,  indoors— the  night  air  captured 
and  held  in  the  halo  of  these  celestial  visitors.  But  what  brought 
them  there,  and  on  what  they  fed,  I  could  not  see.  A  voice  came  to 
me,  a  familiar  voice  that  belonged  to  lips  a  thousand  miles  away, 
bearing  words  under  whose  spell  all  distance  dissolved.  But  on 
whose  ^breath  was  it  that  these  whispers  came?  Whence  the  in- 
visible power  that  moves  the  material  world  ?  The  invisible  power 
tliat  illuminates  the  world  ?  The  invisible  power  to  which  a  thou- 
sand miles  are  as  nothing?     Whence  this  power? 

I  went  to  my  books  for  knowledge.  All  that  I  could  learn  was 
that  it  was  not  a  man  made  power,  as  steam  is  partially  man  made. 
The  dynamo  does  not  generate,  it  only  gathers  the  electric  forces. 
Nor  a  man  destroyed  power ;  when  released  from  its  work,  whatever 
electricity  is,  it  rejoins  its  kind,  the  vacuum  filling  up  as  air  dis- 
turbed restores  its  equilibrium.  Universal,  omnipotent,  self-poised, 
what  is  this  unseen  power? 

Behind  the  nation's  life,  moving  it,  lighting  it  up,  holding  it 
together,  the  primal  source  of  everything  done,  is  an  unseen  power. 
Like  the  greatest  known  force  behind  nature,  this  great  primal 
power  behind  mankind  has  always  been  beckoning  us  from  the  skies 
— pressing  itself  upon  us,  sometimes  by  bolts  that  terrify,  sometimes 
by  flashes  so  soft  and  clear  that  the  dark  places  stand  out  revealed. 
Like  the  great  force  behind  nature,  this  primal  unseen  power  behind 
the  life  of  nations  has  shown  itself  in  events.     Up  and  down  the 
coast  of  history,  like  headlands,  these  providential  events  stand  out. 
The  giving  to  this  world  of  Lincoln  was  such  an  event — a  leader 
stepping  out  to  us,  not  from  the  ordinary  process  of  political  evo- 
lution, but  from  the  skies.     May  I  not  detain  you  long  enough, 
diverted  from  my  subject  perhaps,  to  briefly  fill  in  this  illustration. 
The  conflict  that  in  1860  was  coming  on  was  a  conflict  involving 
politics ;  but  that  was  not  the  whole  of  it.     The  conflict  was  to  be  a 
physical  conflict,  the  balancing  of  physical  weight  against  physical 
weight ;  but  that  was  not  the  whole  of  it.     The  conflict  was  a  moral 
conflict  also,  the  balancing  of  mind  against  mind,  of  conviction 
against  conviction.     In  such  a  conflict  the  so-called  border  States 
were  bound  to  be  a  potent  element ;  and  this  involved  that  our  leader 


542  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

should  have  a  sure  insight  into  their  local  politics,  their  physical 
weight,  their  way  of  looking  at  things ;  above  all,  the  state  of  their 
mind  and  heart  toward  the  institution  of  slavery.  In  the  coming 
conflict  the  abolition  feeling  in  the  North  was  bound  to  be  a  potent 
element ;  and  this  involved  that  our  leader  should  have  a  sure  insight 
into  the  convictions  of  men  habitually  dominated  by  conviction.  In 
such  a  conflict  the  commercial  feeling  of  the  North  was  bound  to 
be  a  potent  element;  and  this  involved  that  our  leader  should  have 
a  sure  insight  into  the  world  of  industry,  of  trade,  of  finance,  and 
of  the  men  who  made  up  that  world.  In  such  a  conflict  the  attitude 
of  Europe  was  bound  to  be  a  potent  element ;  and  this  involved  that 
our  leader  should  have  that  rare  intelligence  that  judges  accurately 
what  men  the  world  over  are  likely  to  do,  or  not  to  do,  under  given 
circumstances.  And  one  man  alone  of  all  Americans  then  living 
possessed  this  mental  and  moral  equipment. 

Bom  in  Kentucky,  reared  in  Indiana,  and  matured  in  Illinois, 
Lincoln  absorbed  the  mental  and  moral  atmosphere  that  made  him 
a  man  both  of  the  South  and  of  the  North.  Without  education,  he 
was  thrown  wholly  upon  his  original  intellectual  strength — a 
strength  that  sank  its  shafts  unaided  to  the  foundations  of  every 
subject  studied.  Without  the  constraint  of  hereditary  environ- 
ment, his  charity  encompassed  the  world.  He  felt  the  wrong  of 
slavery  as  keenly  as  Wendell  Phillips  of  Massachusetts  felt  it;  but 
he  saw  the  danger  of  precipitancy  as  clearly  as  Crittenden  of  Ken- 
tucky saw  it.  He  judged  without  flaw  what  was  going  on  in  the 
mind  and  heart  of  Europe,  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  judging 
without  flaw  what  was  going  on  in  the  mind  and  heart  of  all  classes 
of  Americans.  More  nearly  than  any  other  man  of  his  day,  his  was 
a  cosmopolitan  mind  and  heart — flawless  mirror  of  the  mind  and 
heart  of  mankind. 

How  came  it  that  the  great  seat  of  power,  that  just  at  that  time 
needed  just  that  kind  of  man,  was  found  by  that  man  ?  It  was  not 
accident  that  opened  up  to  Lincoln  the  Presidency,  for  he  was  not 
nominated  by  accident.  It  was  not  the  ordinary  evolution  of 
politics,  for  Lincoln  was  almost  unknown.  It  was  nothing  less  than 
Providence  transferred  to  the  affairs  of  men — ^the  throwing  into  the 
affairs  of  men,  as  a  shaft  of  light  from  an  unseen  tower,  the  great, 
furrowed  face,  the  great  universal  character  that  was  to  lead  us 
through  the  vicissitudes  of  the  nation's  peril. 

Ah,  the  unseen  life!  Bursting  in  upon  us  on  every  hand, 
silently  but  triumphantly,  as  the  bud  bursts  out  of  the  bark ;  pour- 


THE    POPULAR    CONSCIENCE  543 

ing  in  upon  us,  silently  but  powerfully,  as  the  power  behind  the 
thunderbolt  pours  into  motor  and  carbon ;  revealing  behind  the  tree 
and  thunderbolt  the  great  paternal  provision. 

Ah,  the  unseen  life !  It  comes  to  us  in  the  sunset,  brightening 
gateway  to  somewhere  beyond;  in  the  sunrise,  emblem  of  resurrec- 
tion. It  comes  to  us  in  the  ocean,  chanting  eternity.  It  comes  to 
us  through  the  mouths  of  the  great  organ — the  humdrum  clouds 
that  hang  about  ordinary  moments,  opening  into  abysses  through 
which  the  soul  flies  straight  to  the  skies.  It  swelled  up  in  the 
hearts  of  men  with  the  tick  of  the  cable  that  revealed  to  us  a  city 
in  the  ocean,  lying  prostrate  under  the  great  black  hand  of  a  great 
black  mountain.  It  swells  up  in  the  heart  of  the  friend,  when  the 
friend  of  our  friend  lies  dead.  Ah,  the  unseen  life!  Primal 
source  of  all  things  that  are,  empire  over  the  visible  empires  of  the 
earth. 

But  the  Church !  A  United  Church !  What  is  its  relation  to 
this  boundless  national  life,  seen  or  unseen? 

There  are  in  this  hall  perhaps  twelve  hundred  electric  bulbs. 
They  are  fed  through  metal  strings  that  run  to  them  from  the  place 
where  the  electricity  is  gathered.  The  string  is  a  single  string,  its 
capacity  a  constant  capacity.  Now  turn  off  a  light;  the  dynamo 
keeps  on  gathering  as  before,  the  capacity  of  the  conveyor  keeps 
on  as  before,  the  remaining  lights  keep  on  burning  as  before.  Turn 
off  one  hundred,  one  thousand,  all  the  lights  but  one — the  dynamo 
keeps  on  gathering  as  before,  the  capacity  of  the  conveyor  is  as 
before,  the  remaining  lights  keep  on  burning  as  before,  the  intensity 
of  the  light  neither  increased  nor  diminished.  Reverse  the  process, 
and  the  law  is  the  same  as  before.  However  rapid  or  varied  may 
be  the  turning  on  or  off,  the  bulbs  in  action  go  on  with  steady 
radiance. 

More  than  any  other  institution  of  civilization  the  Church  is 
the  agency  that  injects  equilibrium  into  the  national  life.  Reach- 
ing back  to  the  primal  sources  of  that  life  the  Church,  more  than 
any  other  institution  known  to  mankind,  balances  and  steadies 
them.  It  does  this  by  revealing  to  every  individual  soul  a  true 
perspective  of  the  universe  to  which  it  belongs.  A  human  soul 
wandering  through  space,  an  isolated  atom  without  destiny  and 
Tinguided,  is  one  thing;  the  human  soul  connected  up  with  all  that 
is  gone  before,  and  all  that  will  come  after — swinging  in  its  orbit 
an  essential  member  of  the  constellations  that  light  up  the  universe 
— is  another  and  an  infinitely  greater  thing.  With  one  life  is  a  play 


544  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

day,  melancholy  in  the  shortness  of  the  hours  granted ;  sadly  inade- 
quate when  the  morning  promise  is  measured  by  the  evening  reality. 
With  the  other  life  is  opportunity ;  the  mind  and  heart  aglow  with 
the  splendor  of  the  great  things  of  which  it  is  a  part.  With  the 
one  ambition  turns  into  selfishness.  With  the  other  ambition  is 
inspiration.  One  works  that  he  may  live.  The  other  works  that 
mankind  may  live.  With  the  one  the  day  is  measured  by  the  rising 
and  setting  sun.  With  the  other  the  day  is  a  moment  only  in  a 
waiting  eternity.  As  birds  obey  the  silent  voice  that  with  the 
changing  seasons  calls  them  north  and  south — as  in  all  nature  it  is 
the  great  inner  law  working  outward  that  stirs  and  directs  the 
energies  of  nature — the  really  fruitful  deeds  of  mankind  have 
sprung  from  those  lives  that  in  inspiring  consciousness  are  linked 
with  the  life  of  the  Eternal  One. 

The  Church  balances  and  steadies  the  national  life  by  helping  to 
develop  in  the  souls  of  men  a  love  of  justice.  The  love  of  justice ! 
To  stand  obedient  at  the  boundaries  that  separate  another's  right 
from  your  own,  to  do  unto  others  as  you  would  have  them  do  unto 
you — this  is  the  corner  stone  on  which  the  whole  civil  fabric  of 
government  rests. 

The  Church  more  than  any  other  institution  known  to  mankind 
balances  and  steadies  the  national  life  by  dropping  into  the  souls  of 
men  that  mysterious  thing  called  conviction.  Science  has  not  re- 
vealed what  conviction  is,  nor  why  it  so  powerfully  affects  the  af- 
fairs of  mankind.  But  history  reveals  it  as  the  one  sure  compass 
that  holds  a.  nation  to  its  courses,  the  one  sure  anchor  that  holds  a 
nation  to  safety,  when  the  storm  breaks  along  a  dangerous  coast. 

The  Church  more  than  any  other  institution  known  to  mankind 
balances  and  steadies  the  national  life  by  putting  to  the  front  the 
light  of  conscience.  To  a  conscienceless  people  honesty  is  a  super- 
stition, and  therefore  an  encumbrance;  to  a  conscience  obeying 
people,  honesty  is  a  duty  that  becomes  a  habit.  To  a  conscienceless 
people,  politics  become  the  personal  asset  of  those  who  personally 
engage  in  politics ;  to  a  conscience  obeying  people,  politics  is  oppor- 
tunity— high  opportunity  to  lift  the  nation  to  the  uplands  of  better 
living.  To  a  conscienceless  people,  the  toil  of  others  is  gold,  but 
gold  in  the  quartz,  of  no  account  except  as  it  may  be  smelted  and 
coined  into  their  accumulations ;  to  a  conscience  obeying  people,  the 
toiler  is  a  fellow  toiler,  a  neighbor  within  that  great  commandment, 
"Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  To  a  conscienceless 
people,  the  confidence  of  mankind  is  the  opportunity  of  the  pick- 


THE    POPULAR    CONSCIENCE  545 

pocket;  to  a  conscience  obeying  people,  every  institution  built  on 
confidence,  every  office  involving  confidence,  is  a  sacred  trust.  A 
conscienceless  people  is  a  decaying  people.  Before  a  conscience  obey- 
ing people  a  long  future  stretches  out — a  highway  that  at  every  turn 
ascends  to  firmer  and  better  ground.  More  than  any  other  institu- 
tion known  to  manl-'  >  •.  I  repeat,  it  is  the  Church  that  balances  and 
steadies  the  national  ;  Te  by  bringing  out  these  transcendent  quali- 
ties of  the  nation's  heart. 

Why  not  take  steps  here,  then,  for  the  process  going  on  every- 
where else?  Why  not  a  Uniting  Church?  By  that  I  do  not  mean 
the  elimination  of  the  individual  convictions  that  have  built  up  and 
sustained  the  great  Churches  represented  here.  What  I  mean  is 
that  there  shall  be  laid  a  greater  emphasis  on  the  great  conviction 
on  which  they  are  all  built,  that  in  everything  that  promotes  the 
welfare  of  mankind  there  is  the  pervading  presence  of  God.  By  a 
Church  uniting  I  do  not  mean  that  there  shall  be  massed  into  one 
common  form  either  the  polity  or  the  beliefs  of  the  individual 
Churches.  A  Church  without  beliefs — without  distinctive  beliefs — 
would  lose  its  hold  in  a  soil  instinct  with  the  spirit  of  conviction. 
What  I  mean  is  that,  leaving  to  each  Church  the  selection  of  its  own 
way  of  working  out  the  destiny  of  its  people,  there  may  be  found  by 
those  who  seek  it  a  united  way  of  more  effectually  breathing  into 
the  nation's  outer  life  the  breath  of  the  nation's  unseen  life.  I 
would  leave  the  Churches  as  they  are,  each  the  chosen  channel 
through  which  men  seek  communion  with  their  Creator.  But  I 
would  so  adjust  and  balance  and  mass  their  influence  upon  the  life 
of  the  nation  that  here,  as  in  the  civil  side  of  that  life,  wliile  nothing 
was  taken  from  the  strength  of  the  individual  Church  behind  each 
individual  Church  would  be  put  the  strength  of  all  the  Churches. 
Why  not,  then,  I  repeat,  the  influence  on  the  nation's  civil  life  of  a 
Uniting  Church? 

A  year  ago  last  February  I  happened  to  be  in  Baltimore  on  the 
night  of  the  great  fire.  Stopping  with  some  friends  in  the  north 
end  of  the  city,  we  passed  on  our  way  to  where  the  fire  was  burning 
the  Catholic  College  of  Loyola.  The  cross  that  surmounts  the  col- 
lege instantly  attracted  my  eye.  Gleaming  in  the  reflected  Hght  of 
the  conflagration,  it  appeared  to  have  no  connection  with  the  college 
itself,  almost  submerged  in  darkness,  but  looked  as  if  hung  out  from 
above — a  gleaming  cross  hung  out  from  the  skies. 

The  fire  had  started  in  one  of  the  older  business  sections  of  the 


546  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

city,  and  under  a  south  wind  had  crept  northward,  gathering  volume 
and  fury  as  its  pathway  lengthened.  When  we  arrived  it  had 
reached  the  vicinity  of  St.  Paul's  Church  and  the  Cardinal's  Cathe- 
dral, its  red  eyes  straining  toward  the  region  of  homes  beyond,  its 
red  tongues  leaping  toward  them  as  the  tongues  of  serpents  leap  for 
their  prey.  But  across  the  path  hung  the  gleaming  cross,  as  if 
some  power  in  the  skies  were  saying,  Not  here,  not  here. 

Baffled,  the  fires  turned  eastward.  Here  architecture  had  built 
its  commercial  masterpieces — granite  and  steel,  that  stood  out  like 
fortresses  against  the  invading  foe.  But  one  after  another  the 
fortresses  were  overrun.  One  after  another  the  fortresses  were 
overwhelmed.  One  after  another  they  went  down.  And  then,  for 
a  moment,  the  red  eyes  turned  northward  again.  But  there  still 
gleamed  the  cross,  the  sign  of  some  power  in  the  skies  that  said.  Not 
here,  not  here. 

Eastward  the  fires  turned  again.  Factory  after  factory  went 
down,  warehouse  after  warehouse ;  whole  blocks,  whole  streets.  But 
to  the  northward  still  gleamed  the  cross,  and  still  it  said.  Not  here, 
not  here.  And  not  until  the  baffled  fires  had  licked  up  the  wharves 
to  the  water's  edge  and  gone  out  to  sea  did  this  emblem  of  our  com- 
mon faith  cease  to  stand  sentinel  against  a  common  danger. 

Men  and  women  of  the  Church :  We  are  even  now  under  this 
common  emblem  the  world  over — an  emblem  that  commemorates 
the  noblest  scene  in  human  history;  that  has  been  supreme  in  the 
march  of  human  destiny.  It  stands  for  order  and  government 
among  men.  It  stands  for  justice  between  men.  Under  it  men  do 
their  duty  to  the  State.  Under  it  men  do  their  duty  to  their  fellow 
men.  Wherever  it  is  seen,  however  absorbing  may  seem  the  affairs 
of  mankind,  the  cross  signalizes  that  God  is  still  walking  among 
men.  And  this  banner  is  wide  enough  to  include  us  all.  Shall  it 
be  written  of  this  great  Council  that  here  and  now  began  a  new 
life  that  in  its  width,  its  depth,  its  single-heartedness,  approached 
more  nearly  than  was  ever  approached  before  the  boundless  love  of 
man,  the  divine  concern  brooding  over  the  affairs  of  man,  that  gave 
to  us  the  cross  of  Christ  ? 


LAW    AND    JUSTICE 


The  Hon.  David  J.  Brewer,  LL.D. 


Denominations  exist,  will  exist  and  ought  to  exist.  Their 
existence  is  in  no  manner  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  unity  which 
should  animate  all.  They  only  illustrate  the  great  plan  of  the  uni- 
verse, unity  in  variety.  Not  one  flower  alone,  but  a  countless 
number,  with  differences  of  form,  color  and  leaf,  mantle  the  earth 
during  the  summer  days,  yet  a  single  thought  of  beauty  pervades 
the  whole  floral  world.  No  one  mountain  peak  is  like  another  in 
elevation,  form,  display  of  rock  and  forest,  but  all  appeal  to  our 
sense  of  grandeur.  There  is  a  marked  apparent  difference  between 
the  falling  of  the  leaf,  the  dropping  of  the  aeronaut  from  his  balloon 
and  the  stupendous  majesty  of  Niagara's  falling  waters,  yet  all  obey 
one  law — ^the  law  of  gravitation.  Man,  though  made  in  the  image 
of  God,  is  of  all  creations  the  most  varied  and  complex.  No  two 
faces  are  exactly  alike.  No  two  minds  are  identical  in  their  proc- 
esses and  conceptions.  The  chords  of  feeling  and  passion  in  no 
two  hearts  are  tuned  to  precisely  the  same  key.  Yet,  notwithstand- 
ing the  infinite  variety,  there  is  a  manifest  unity  in  face  and  mind 
and  heart.  So  while  differences  of  creed,  in  ideas  of  worship  and 
governmental  polity  separate  the  Christian  world  into  many  denomi- 
nations, all  are  united  by  a  common  devotion  to  a  single  Master. 
These  various  denominations,  responding  to  the  different  wants  of 
the  human  soul,  make  known  in  the  language  of  the  apostle  "the 
manifold  wisdom  of  God." 

As  the  federation  of  the  States  in  this  Eepublic  makes  the  single 
nation  stronger,  so  a  Federation  of  the  denominations  will  make 
the  Church  universal  stronger.  It  will  help  in  winning  the  long 
fight  with  sin  and  evil,  for  the  single  thought  of  a  common  purpose 
will  bind  all  the  efforts  of  each.  In  the  battle  of  Ivry  were  gathered 
on  the  side  of  King  Henry  a  multitude  of  battalions,  fighting  with 
different  weapons  and  in  different  armor,  but  all  animated  by  a 
single  thought  of  victory.  Macaulay  put  into  the  mouth  of  the 
great  commander  on  that  field  of  battle — 
Press  where  ye  see  my  white  plume  wave  amidst  the  thickest  of  the 

war, 
And  be  your  oriflamme  to-day.  Prince  Henry  of  Navarre. 

547 


548  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

So  the  hosts  of  the  great  army  of  the  Church  Universal  may 
hear  from  the  lips  of  its  leader  the  inspiring  cry : 

Press  where,  amidst  the  strife  for  good,  my  cross  you  see, 
ABd  be  your  oriflamme  forever  the  Christ  of  Galilee. 

I  look  and  hope  for  a  Federation  broader  than  that  expressed  in 
the  call  for  this  Conference,  and  yet  in  giving  utterance  to  that  hope 
I  mean  no  criticism  of  the  action  in  calling  this  Conference.  Very 
likely  it  was  wisely  thought  that  a  short,  sure  step  forward  was 
better  than  a  long  jump  into  possible  confusion  and  failure.  But 
why  should  not  every  one  who  names  the  name  of  Christ  be  feder- 
ated in  the  effort  to  make  His  life  and  teachings  the  ruling  force 
in  the  world?  The  man  who  could  not  work  harmoniously  with 
such  men  as  Edward  Everett  Hale  and  Cardinal  Gibbons  in  the 
struggle  to  better  humanity,  in  my  judgment,  has  not  a  clear  con- 
ception of  the  spirit  of  the  Master's  final  prayer  "that  they  all  may 
be  one."  If  it  be  said  that  some  do  not  recognize  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  I  reply  in  the  words  of  the  Master,  "If  any  man  keep  my 
commandments,  he  shall  know  of  my  doctrine."  Indeed,  I  go  fur- 
ther, and  say  that  as  Christians  we  claim  no  monopoly  of  good  in- 
tentions or  good  deeds.  Doubtless  a  continuing  Federation  may 
properly  be  limited  to  Christians,  for  they  believe  that  the  life  and 
teachings  of  Christ  are  the  inspiration  of  humanity  and  its  great 
redeeming  power,  but  that  does  not  prevent  us  from  working  in 
many  ways  with  those  who  do  not  believe  as  we  do,  providing  only 
that  they  are  trying  to  make  the  world  better.  Had  I  been  a  citi- 
zen of  New  York  at  the  last  election  I  would  have  worked  and 
voted  with  anybody  if  he  only  had  the  name  of  William  Travers 
Jerome  on  his  ticket.  Indeed,  vnthout  detracting  in  the  least  from 
the  special  significance  and  value  of  a  Federation  of  those  who  name 
the  name  of  Christ,  I  see  no  injury  to  His  cause  resulting  from  a 
cooperation  of  all,  Gentile  or  Jew,  who,  looking  up  with  reverence 
and  the  spirit  of  worship  through  the  eternal  blue  to  the  infinite 
power  outside  ourselves  which  makes  for  righteousness,  are  toiling 
to  bring  on  the  better  day  when  love  and  peace  shall  rule  the  world, 
and  who  by  their  lives  are  numbering  themselves  among  those  to 
whom  the  Master  will  say  in  the  last  great  day,  "Inasmuch  as  ye 
have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me." 

Drawing  a  parallel  between  the  Church  and  this  Republic,  it 
may  be  said  that  there  are  various  denominations,  but  only  one 


LAW    AND    JUSTICE  549 

Church;  separate  States,  but  only  one  nation.  The  States  united 
are  many ;  the  United  States  is  one.  The  thirteen  original  colonies 
grew  up  separate  States  through  differences  of  chartered  rights, 
business  conditions  and  local  influences.  The  existence  of  these 
differences  did  not  prevent  the  federation  into  one  nation.  Indeed, 
the  strength  and  glory  of  the  States  come  from  their  union  into  one 
nation,  and  the  enduring  strength  of  the  nation  comes  from  the 
continued  vigorous  life  of  the  States.  The  weaknesses  and  antago- 
nisms of  the  separate  States  created  the  United  States. 

In  like  manner  denominations  have  grown  up  through  differ- 
ences of  opinion  about  lesser  matters  in  religion,  and  the  antago- 
nisms between  the  denominations  constitute  the  great  weakness  of 
the  Church.  Their  federation  would  result  in  increased  strength 
and  glory  to  all.  The  federation  of  the  nation  does  not  destroy 
the  States,  does  not  abridge  their  independence  in  their  separate 
affairs,  permits  their  free  development  along  lines  suggested  by 
locality  and  business  conditions,  while  at  the  same  time  it  binds 
them  all  into  one  great  nation,  powerful  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  The  old  fable  tells  the  story  of  the  difference  between  the 
bundle  and  the  separate  sticks  of  the  bundle.  So  a  Federation  of 
the  Churches,  in  no  manner  interfering  with  creeds  or  forms  of 
government,  the  peculiar  habits  and  thoughts  of  the  separate  de- 
nominations, will  result  in  one  great,  overwhelming  Christian 
power. 

I  concede  that  this  parallel  may  be  pushed  too  far.  There  is  a 
governmental  power  in  the  United  States.  There  is  absolute  con- 
trol over  certain  matters,  with  authority  to  enforce  obedience  by  all. 
No  such  governmental  power  could  be  recognized  in  a  Federation 
of  the  Churches.  The  analogy  fails  in  this  respect,  because  in  one 
case  we  are  dealing  with  a  political  organization  which  is  bottomed 
on  force  and  which  must  establish  itself  in  the  world.  In  the  other 
we  are  dealing  with  religion,  in  respect  to  which  there  must  be  free- 
dom from  governmental  control.  To  each  Church  and  to  each  in- 
dividual in  the  Church  must  be  given  the  open  way  of  approach  to 
the  Father's  throne. 

Yet  Federation  by  bringing  the  various  denominations  into  closer 
touch  will  give  to  each  a  clearer  conception  of  the  real  value  of  the 
others.  It  will  tend  to  minimize  in  the  thought  of  each  the  differ- 
ences between  them,  and  thus  diminish  the  old  antagonisms.  Each 
will  see  more  of  the  good  in  the  others,  forget  the  minor  differences, 
be  filled  with  a  higher  and  better  spirit  and  spurred  on  to  greater 


550  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

efforts  in  the  common  cause.  More  than  that.  Federation  will  enable 
the  throwing  of  the  entire  and  compact  religious  force  of  the  nation 
against  wrong,  and  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  right.  And  what  may 
we  not  expect  to  result  therefrom  ?     Let  me  illustrate : 

Every  federal  judge  is  required  to  take  an  oath  that  he  "will 
administer  justice  without  respect  to  persons,  and  do  equal  right  to 
the  poor  and  to  the  rich."  This  oath,  while  defining  the  oflQcial 
obligations  of  the  judge,  with  equal  emphasis  states  the  duty  of 
every  citizen.  One  of  the  purposes  of  the  Constitution,  as  declared 
in  its  Preamble,  was  "to  establish  justice."  Every  citizen  called 
upon  to  support  the  Constitution  receives  from  it  a  personal  man- 
date "to  establish  justice."  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that 
the  lawyers  and  the  judges  are  alone  responsible  for  justice.  As 
well  say  that  religion  is  the  duty  only  of  the  ministers.  Justice  as 
well  as  religion  is  the  universal  duty  of  all.  Both  are  conmianded 
in  the  Bible.  "Judgment  also  will  I  lay  to  the  line,  and  righteous- 
ness to  the  plummet." 

Law  and  justice  ought  always  to  agree.  Unfortunately  they  do 
not.  Law  is  a  creation  of  man  and  carries  his  infirmities.  Justice 
is  the  offspring  of  the  divine,  and  is  perfect.  Our  struggle  is  to 
make  the  law,  whether  found  in  statutes,  judicial  decisions  or  the 
lives  of  individuals,  absolutely  synonymous  with  justice.  Every 
successful  effort  in  that  direction  is  a  step  forward  and  upward  in 
the  line  of  humanity's  advance. 

What  loftier  conception  of  justice  can  be  found  than  in  the 
declaration  of  Scripture,  "Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  ?  A  single 
day's  lifting  up  of  all  to  that  standard  of  justice  would  shake  the 
nation  like  an  earthquake.  Once  established  as  the  permanent 
ruling  of  every  life,  courts  might  close.  Strikes  and  lockouts,  trusts 
and  monopolies  would  cease.  Banks  and  insurance  companies 
would  need  no  supervision.  State  or  federal.  There  would  be  no 
contested  elections.  The  writ  of  injunction  would  pass  into  innocu- 
ous desuetude.  The  despised  Chinaman  would  have  a  new  revela- 
tion of  American  justice.  Accumulations  of  wealth  would  be  con- 
secrated. There  would  be  no  tainted  money.  Material  develop- 
ment would  glow  with  the  strange,  sweet  light  that  guided  the 
wise  men  of  the  East  to  the  Babe  of  Bethlehem.  Differences  of 
position  and  wealth  would  be  ignored.  The  Master  was  no  respecter 
of  persons.  Indeed,  He  may  well  be  said  to  have  written  by  antici- 
pation the  judicial  oath  in  our  Constitution.  The  widow's  mite 
and  the  alabaster  box  of  ointment,  very  precious,  were  equally  wel- 


LAW    AND    JUSTICE  551 

come  and  equally  blessed.  In  all  this  would  be  seen  no  matter  of 
creed  or  denomination.  It  would  be  simply  pouring  the  life  and 
spirit  of  the  Master  through  the  far  reaching  channels  of  justice  in 
the  land.  What  better  means  can  be  found  for  accomplishing  this 
than  the  united  action  of  the  Federated  Churches  of  America? 

Let  us  look  in  another  though  kindred  direction.  A  great  prob- 
lem pressing  on  the  attention  of  the  American  people  is  the  purging 
of  municipal  life  of  its  corruption  and  filth.  Grafting  is  the  city's 
horror;  the  slum  is  the  city's  shame. 

The  failure  of  the  attacks  upon  these  two  forms  of  municipal 
dishonor  is  largely  owing  to  the  fact  that  they  are  too  often  partisan, 
spasmodic  and  desultory.  A  gross  instance  of  municipal  corruption 
is  exposed.  Public  indignation  is  aroused.  Turn  the  rascals  out 
is  the  cry,  which  frequently  only  means  turn  the  party  out  to  which 
the  rascals  happen  to  belong.  Even  if  a  non-partisan  movement 
is  undertaken,  its  thought  stops  with  "turn  the  rascals  out."  That 
accomplished,  the  partisan  spirit  reasserts  itself.  But  successful 
reform  means  not  merely  turn  the  rascals  out,  but  keep  them  out. 
When  the  popular  wrath  is  raging  corruption  hides  and  waits  until 
the  storm  abates.  Believing  that  the  movement  will,  as  it  has  in 
the  past,  prove  to  be  either  partisan  or  spasmodic,  the  corruptionist 
simply  bides  his  time.  In  order  to  he  permanently  effective  there 
must  be  a  general  realization  that  the  disgrace  of  corruption  is 
worse  than  the  defeat  of  the  party ;  that  the  obligations  of  citizen- 
ship are  not  temporary,  but  permanent.  "Render,  therefore,  unto 
Caesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's,"  is  no  more  satisfied  by  the 
mere  payment  of  taxes  or  temporary  efforts  for  civic  purity  than 
"Render  unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's"  is  satisfied  by  con- 
tributions to  the  minister's  salary  and  an  attendance  on  Sabbath 
services.  Eternal  vigilance  is  not  only  the  price  of  liberty,  but  the 
price  of  civic  purity,  and  we  shall  never  have  a  permanent  purity 
of  civil  administration  until  the  people  awake  to  the  fact  that  purity 
of  administration  is  more  important  than  party  success,  and  that  it 
is  to  be  attained  only  by  a  constant  and  universal  watchfulness. 

So  the  disgrace  of  the  slums  will  not  be  removed  by  mere  gifts 
of  money  or  property,  by  separate  and  desultory  action  of  individ- 
uals. A  handful  may  do  noble  work  in  one  locality  and  another 
handful  in  a  different  part  of  the  city,  and  their  work  is  to  be  com- 
mended. A  few  model  tenement  houses  may  be  put  up,  a  few  parks 
or  breathing  places  established,  but  the  slums  continue.  Driven 
from  one  locality,  they  seek  another.     Mere  gifts  of  money  to  the 


552  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

unfortunate  inhabitants  of  these  slums  are  as  apt  to  injure  as  to 
bless.  It  would  be  a  sad  day  for  any  community  when  half  of  the 
people  live  and  expect  to  live  on  the  charity  of  the  other  half.  Into 
the  lives  of  these  unfortunates  must  be  put  aspirations  for  better 
things.  Of  course,  the  change  in  environment  is  no  little,  but 
unless  the  impulse  and  desire  for  better  living  are  created  the 
environment  will  fail  of  half  its  possible  blessing. 

What  better  method  of  overthrowing  these  enemies  of  municipal 
well-being  than  by  hurling  against  them  the  united  force  of  the 
Christian  Churches?  Here,  too,  is  no  matter  of  creed  or  denomi- 
nation. It  would  mean  simply  that  the  Christian  Churches  have 
awakened  to  a  consciousness  that  responsibility  for  municipal  well- 
being  rests  upon  them  as  a  body,  and  that  as  a  body  they  will  carry 
on  a  permanent  effort  to  establish  it.  Such  a  united  Christian  ef- 
fort would  ere  long  redeem  New  York,  make  Philadelphia  good  and 
Chicago  clean. 

Again,  the  longing  of  humanity  has  been  for  peace  on  earch. 
That  was  the  song  of  the  angels  at  Bethlehem,  and  the  more  that 
song  stirs  the  hearts  of  men  the  nearer  will  be  the  glad  day.  This 
nation,  where  the  people  rule,  should  ever  be  strong  for  peace,  for 
the  burden  and  curse  of  war  rest  upon  them.  The  united  voice  of 
the  Christian  Church  of  America,  the  united  effort  of  all  denomina- 
tions, would  compel  the  government  to  take  a  higher  position.  Do 
not  turn  the  peace  movement  over  to  the  Quakers  alone.  Let  us  all 
catch  the  sweet  echoes  of  Bethlehem's  song,  and,  as  one,  affirm  that 
the  time  has  come  when  the  sword  shall  be  turned  into  the  plough- 
share and  the  spear  into  the  pruning  hook.  Our  country  in  many 
respects  has  a  noble  record.  The  grand  declaration  of  Secretary 
Hay  that  American  diplomacy  is  founded  on  the  Golden  Eule  lifted 
this  nation  into  a  higher  position  as  a  world  power  than  the  vic- 
tories at  Manila  and  Santiago  de  Cuba.  The  great  triumphal  peace 
between  Kussia  and  Japan  was  largely  due  to  our  chief  executive. 
Yet,  notwithstanding  all  this,  we  cannot  be  oblivious  to  the  fact 
that  there  is  much  itching  for  more  and  larger  battleships,  and  the 
"pride,  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war"  still  make  a  large 
appeal  to  many.  We  love  the  power  that  is  material.  As  against 
the  war  spirit  I  invoke  the  spirit  of  the  Master.  As  against  the  call 
for  battleships  I  invoke  the  action  of  a  united  Church,  and  I  am 
sure  that  a  Federation  of  all  the  Churches  will  soon  make  it  plain 
that  as  for  this  nation  there  must  be  no  longer  war  nor  a  getting 
ready  for  war. 


LAW    AND    JUSTICE  553 

One  thing  more:  From  the  first  settlement  in  these  United 
States  to  the  present  hour  the  unequivocal  utterances,  both  official 
and  unofficial,  of  the  nation  have  contained  a  constant  recognition 
of  Christianity.  The  first  colonial  grant,  that  to  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  made  in  1584,  authorized  him  to  enact  statutes  for  the 
government  of  the  proposed  colony,  provided  that  "they  be  not 
against  the  true  Christian  faith  now  professed  in  the  Church  of 
England."  The  celebrated  compact  of  the  pilgrims  in  the  May- 
flower declared  that  their  venture  "was  undertaken  for  the  glory  of 
God  and  advancement  of  the  Christian  faith,"  and  the  last  procla- 
mation of  our  chief  executive  summons  the  people  of  this  Republic 
to  thanksgiving  and  praise  to  Almighty  God  for  all  the  blessings 
they  enjoy.  Let  a  Federation  of  all  the  Christian  Churches  in  this 
nation  come  into  being.  Let  there  be  unity  of  effort  and.  a  oneness 
in  sympathy,  and  it  will  show  to  the  world  that  this  is  in  the  highest 
sense  a  Christian  nation.  Its  history  will  be  told  in  these  words  of 
Leonard  Bacon: 

O  God,  beneath  Thy  guiding  hand 

Our  exiled  fathers  crossed  the  sea, 
And  when  they  trod  the  wintry  strand, 

With  prayer  and  psalm  they  worshipped  Thee. 

Thou  heardst,  well  pleased,  the  song,  the  prayer — 

Thy  blessing  came;  and  still  its  power 
Shall  onward  through  all  ages  bear 

The  memory  of  that  holy  hour. 

Laws,  freedom,  truth  and  faith  in  God 

Came  with  those  exiles  o'er  the  waves, 
And  where  their  pilgrim  feet  have  trod 

The  God  they  trusted  guards  their  graves. 

And  here  Thy  name,  O  God  of  Love, 

Their  children's  children  shall  adore. 
Till  these  eternal  hills  remove. 

And  spring  adorns  the  earth  no  more. 


GOVERNMENT    BY    THE    PEOPLE 


Dean  Henry  Wade  Rogers,  LL.D. 


Abraham  Lincoln  forty-two  years  ago  yesterday  dedicated  the 
National  Cemetery  at  Gettysburg.  In  splendid  language,  which  his 
countnTnen  will  not  forget,  he  summoned  the  living  to  the  high 
resolve  that  those  who  died  on  that  field  of  honor  should  not  have 
died  in  vain,  and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people  and 
for  the  people  should  not  perish  from  the  earth.  Each  succe^^sive 
generation  must  renew  the  solemn  consecration  to  which  Lincoln'^ 
was  invited  if  the  Republic  is  to  endure. 

Political  philosophy  teaches  that  that  form  of  government  is 
ideally  best  in  which  the  people,  through  a  representative  system, 
conduct  the  affairs  of  state.  Government  by  the  people  recognizes 
more  nearly  than  any  other  the  brotherhood  of  man.  We  are  told 
that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  first  democrat,  and  the  Church  the  first 
organized  democracy.  The  history  of  the  world  discloses,  as  Mill 
has  pointed  out,  that  all  free  states,  while  their  freedom  lasted, 
attained  a  more  brilliant  prosperity  than  any  others.  But  man.  as 
Zenophon  has  said,  and  Aristotle  and  Plato  agreed  with  him,  is  the 
most  difficult  of  all  animals  to  govern.  He  may  govern  himself 
well,  so  long  as  he  is  intelligent  and  moral,  but  when  he  is  ignorant 
or  immoral  history  shows  that  he  will  be  governed  by  a  force  outside 
himself.  Government  by  the  people,  when  the  people  become  de- 
generate, leads  to  anarchy,  and  the  end  of  anarchy  is  despotism. 

Government  by  the  people  is  still  on  trial,  and  the  final  outcome 
no  man  can  predict.  Democracy,  Lowell  said,  is  nothing  more  than 
an  experiment  in  government.  The  dangers  to  which  the  govern- 
ment our  fathers  established  is  to-day  exposed  are  quite  as  men- 
acing as  any  in  our  past  history.  There  have  been  many  repub- 
lics before  ours.  A  few  of  them  flourished  long.  One  of  them  be- 
came mistress  of  the  world.  Sooner  or  later  they  fell,  undermined 
by  the  corruption  to  which  they  became  a  prey.  The  American 
Government  has  endured  long  enough  and  has  become  great  enough 
to  demonstrate  that  it  need  not  fear  any  force  from  without.  But 
in  nations,  as  in  individuals,  that  which  is  to  be  dreaded  most  is  a 
malignant  disease  within. 

The  end  of  all  political  struggle  is  to  establish  morality  as  the 
basis  of  all  legislation.     Emerson  spoke  well  when  he  said :     "  'Tis 

554 


GOVERNMENT    BY    THE    PEOPLE  555 

not  a  democracy  that  is  the  end — no,  but  only  the  means.  Morality 
is  the  object  of  government."  Free  institutions  exist  that  laws 
may  be  founded  on  Just  principles,  and  enacted  for  the  benefit  and 
not  the  oppression  of  men.  When  the  source  of  power  becomes 
corrupted,  when  offices  are  bought  and  sold,  when  legislative  privi- 
leges are  conferred  upon  the  few  for  money,  the  time  has  come  not 
alone  for  shame,  but  for  the  deepest  concern. 

A  government  by  the  people  has  in  the  United  States  established 
religious  freedom  and  religious  equality.  It  has  established  polit- 
ical equality  and  bestowed  for  the  first  time  in  history  universal 
suffrage.  ISTo  man  can  here  be  legally  denied  the  right  to  vote  on 
account  of  race,  color  or  previous  condition  of  servitude.  The  uni- 
versal law  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  is  more  nearly  recognized 
here  than  in  any  country  on  the  globe.  It  has  given  liberty  of 
speech  and  of  the  press.  It  has  diffused  imiversal  education  and 
made  it  free  to  all  classes  and  conditions.  It  has  established  the 
common  school  and  the  great  universities,  which  are  the  beacon 
lights  of  civilization,  and  more  numerous  and  better  endowed  than 
any  other  country  can  boast.  Those  who  have  fled  from  the  old 
world  that  they  might  escape  from  poverty  or  oppression  have  been 
received,  watched  over,  encouraged,  defended,  and  admitted  to  citi- 
zenship. This  government  by  the  people  has  bred  men  whose 
achievements  are  the  glory  of  the  race.  Lowell  has  said  that  insti- 
tutions which  could  bear  and  breed  such  men  as  Lincoln  and  Emer- 
son have  surely  some  energ}-  for  good. 

The  country  has  become  the  richest  and  perhaps  the  most  power- 
ful nation  of  the  world.  To  this  proud  position  it  has  come  not 
by  sending  forth  its  conquering  legions,  as  Eome  did,  to  plunder 
and  pillage  and  subdue  by  force.     It  has  held  back 

The  armaments  that  thunder  strike  the  walls 
Of  rock-built  cities,  bidding  nations  quake 
And  monarchs  tremble  in  their  capitals. 

This  government  by  the  people  has  attended  to  its  own  business, 
and  left  other  people  to  attend  to  theirs,  until,  in  obedience  to 
what  it  supposed  were  the  claims  of  civilization,  it  intervened  to 
give  liberty  to  Cuba.  It  has  stood  for  peace  and  not  for  war.  It 
has  believed  in  international  arbitration.  When  all  the  nations  of 
the  world  wanted  an  end  to  the  war  in  the  East,  but  seemed  power- 
less to  accomplish  it,  the  President  of  the  United  States  became  the 
Great  Pacificator,  and  won  for  himself  and  his  country  the  plaudits 
of  mankind. 


556  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

Thus  government  by  the  people  in  this  our  Republic  has  made 
marvellous  achievements.  This  structure  of  popular  government 
has  expanded  and  grown  great.  It  looms  high  and  unobscured 
above  the  horizon  of  the  world,  and  men  as  they  have  gazed  upon 
its  graces  of  symmetry  and  proportion  have  fancied  that  they  saw 
"the  ever  rising  temple  of  God  upon  the  earth."  It  extends  from 
the  coast  to  the  mountains,  and  from  the  mountains  across  "the 
plains  of  sunset"  to  the  Pacific  sea,  and  occupying  the  vast  domain 
is  a  united  people  having  in  their  hearts  but  one  sentiment — 

The  union  of  lakes,  the  union  of  lands, 
The  union  of  States  none  can  sever; 

The  union  of  hearts,  the  union  of  hands, 
And  the  flag  of  our  Union  forever! 

If  government  by  the  people,  as  administered  in  the  United 
States,  has  achieved  splendid  results,  we  have  also  to  admit  its 
humiKating  failures. 

The  Secretary  of  War  has  recently  said:  "I  grieve  for  my 
country  to  say  that  the  administration  of  the  criminal  law  in  all 
the  States  of  the  Union  (there  may  be  one  or  two  exceptions)  is  a 
disgrace  to  our  civilization." 

In  his  opinion  the  country  had  reached  an  age  when  youth, 
sparse  population  and  newness  of  the  country  could  not  be  pleaded 
as  an  excuse  for  laxity  in  the  enforcement  of  law. 

He  stated  that  since  1885  there  had  been  131,951  murders  and 
homicides,  and  only  2,286  executions.  In  1885  the  number  of 
murders  was  1,808,  while  in  1904  the  number  had  increased  to 
8,482. 

Another  authority  has  stated  that  in  the  city  of  London  in  1903 
there  were  but  24  murders,  and  every  murderer  was  executed  except 
two,  who  committed  suicide.  In  the  city  of  Chicago,  with  less  than 
one-third  the  population  of  London,  the  number  of  murders  during 
the  same  period  is  said  to  have  been  128,  while  only  one  murderer 
was  executed. 

In  the  United  States  there  is  a  widespread  lack  of  respect  for 
law,  which  is  a  most  serious  imperfection  in  our  civilization  and  a 
menace  to  our  institutions.  Lawlessness  is  everywhere  a  badge  of 
barbarism.  The  suppression  of  the  negro  vote  by  force  in  the 
South  in  the  years  immediately  following  the  reconstruction  period, 
the  use  of  intimidation  and  violence  in  the  North  to  prevent  strike- 
breakers from  working,  the  resort  to  lynch  law  and  burning  and 
torture  as  a  punishment,  the  habitual  violation  of  the  laws  by  great 


OOVERNMENT    BY    THE    PEOPLE  557 

corporations,  the  purchase  by  rich  men  of  the  privilege  of  evading 
the  laws,  and  the  frequent  non-enforcement  of  the  laws  by  the  sworn 
ojQBcers  of  the  law  are  some  of  the  indications  of  the  lawlessness  of 
spirit  which  characterizes  so  many  of  our  people. 

The  President  has  said  vdth  great  truth :  "The  corner  stone  of 
all  free  government  is  respect  for  and  obedience  to  the  law.  Where 
men  permit  the  law  to  be  defied  or  evaded,  whether  by  rich  man 
or  poor  man,  by  black  man  or  white,  we  are  by  just  so  much  weak- 
ening the  bonds  of  our  civilization  and  increasing  the  chances  of  its 
overthrow  and  of  the  substitution  therefor  of  a  system  in  which 
there  shall  be  violent  alternations  of  anarchy  and  tyranny." 

It  is  an  inauspicious  fact  that  respect  for  law  has  been  steadily 
declining  in  the  United  States  in  recent  years.  It  is  written  in 
human  history  that  lawlessness  opens  the  door  of  the  State  to  the 
dictator. 

In  a  government  by  the  people  it  is  eminently  the  first  duty  of 
the  citizen  to  respect  and  obey  the  law.  "Let  respect  for  the  law," 
said  Lincoln,  'Tae  breathed  by  every  American  mother  to  the  babe 
that  prattles  on  her  lap;  let  it  be  taught  in  schools  and  colleges; 
let  it  be  preached  from  the  pulpit,  proclaimed  in  legislative  halls 
and  enforced  in  courts  of  justice.  And,  in  short,  let  it  become  the 
political  religion  of  the  nation,  and  let  the  old  and  the  young,  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  the  grave  and  the  gay,  of  all  sexes  and  tongues 
and  colors  and  conditions,  sacrifice  unceasingly  upon  its  altars." 

It  is  in  the  government  of  our  municipalities  that  government 
by  the  people  has  been  most  unsuccessful.  Municipal  government 
in  the  United  States  is  conceded  to  be  inefficient,  extravagant,  and 
in  an  alarming  degree  corrupt.  A  burden  of  taxation  is  laid  upon 
the  citizen  heavier  than  any  laid  elsewhere,  but  our  streets  are  not 
clean,  our  police  often  levy  blackmail  upon  the  lowest  classes,  and 
our  cit}'  councils  bestow  gratuitously  valuable  privileges  upon  those 
whose  hands  proffer  the  necessary  bribe.  In  "The  Shame  of  the 
Cities"  Mr.  Steffens  has  made  public  a  story  of  political  degrada- 
tion and  corruption  that  is  appalling.  He  has  also  indicated  why 
so  many  municipal  governments  are  graft  factories.  "The  typical 
business  man,"  he  writes,  "is  a  bad  citizen.  *  *  *  If  he  is  a 
Hsig  business  man'  and  very  busy,  he  does  not  neglect,  he  is  busy 
with  politics.  *  *  *  j  found  him  buying  boodlers  in  St.  Louis, 
defending  grafters  in  Minneapolis,  originating  corruption  in  Pitts- 
burg, sharing  with  bosses  in  Philadelphia,  deploring  reform  in 
Chicago,  and  beating  good  government  with  corruption  funds  in 


558  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

New  York.  He  is  a  self-righteous  fraud,  this  big  business  man. 
He  is  the  chief  source  of  corruption,  and  it  were  a  boon  if  he  would 
neglect  politics." 

The  recent  investigation  into  the  methods  of  the  insurance  com- 
panies which  has  disclosed  their  unauthorized  contributions  to 
political  campaign  funds,  their  use  of  money  for  "legal  expenses" 
covering  a  multitude  of  sins,  their  doctored  records  and  secret  com- 
missions and  betrayals  of  trust,  has  shown  the  prevalence  of  dis- 
honesty where  it  was  least  expected  and  most  alarming.  We  are 
told  that  Europe  has  come  to  think  that  the  United  States  is  crowd- 
ing Turkey  and  Eussia  hard  for  the  championship  in  corruption. 

The  spirit  of  commercialism  and  the  greed  for  money  and  for 
the  power  it  wields  have  blunted  the  moral  sense  of  too  many  of 
our  people.  Its  effect  is  seen  not  merely  in  the  misgovernment  of 
our  cities,  but  its  malign  influence  appears  in  the  legislatures  of 
the  States  and  Nation.  In  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  sit 
men  who  are  under  indictment  for  crime,  and  other  men  who  are 
the  representatives  of  special  interests  rather  than  of  States.  It 
was  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,  at  the  time  the  presiding  officer 
of  that  august  body,  who  brazenly  said:  "Politics  is  a  battle  for 
supremacy.  Parties  are  the  armies.  The  Decalogue  and  the 
Golden  Pule  have  no  place  in  a  political  campaign !  The  object  is 
success.  *  *  *  Ijj  ^ar  it  is  lawful  to  deceive  the  adversary, 
*  *  *  to  purchase  mercenaries,  to  mutilate,  to  kill,  to  destroy. 
The  commander  who  lost  a  battle  through  the  activity  of  his  moral 
nature  would  be  the  derision  and  the  jest  of  history."  Too  many 
men  reach  the  Senate  Chamber  crawling,  leaving  behind  a  slimy 
trail.  It  was  not  so  in  the  earlier  days,  and  it  was  not  so  in  the 
days  of  Webster  and  Calhoun. 

The  'T30ss"  system  of  political  rule  is  a  deadly  menace  to  our 
institutions.  It  is  a  system  of  insufferable  insolence.  A  boss  looks 
upon  politics  as  a  game  to  be  played  for  profit.  He  is  a  conspirator 
with  the  enemies  of  the  Republic.  He  enters  into  sinister  alliance 
with  freebooting  financiers  who  seek  illegitimate  privileges.  As  he 
grows  in  power  he  grows  in  wealth,  and  dares  not  answer  WHERE 
HE   GOT  IT  PROM. 

That  such  a  personage  should  intervene  between  the  people  of 
this  country  and  their  public  servants,  that  these  public  servants 
should  be  accountable  to  him  and  not  to  the  people,  is  an  intolerable 
condition.  It  is  a  condition  which  has  grown  up  because  the  great 
body  of  the  educated  men  of  the  country  and  the  great  body  of  the 


GOVERNMENT    BY    THE    PEOPLE  559 

business  men  of  the  country  are  not  good  citizens.  They  are  so 
absorbed  in  their  own  private  affairs  that  they  neglect  the  primaries, 
they  neglect  organization  and  allow  unscrupulous  men  to  construct 
a  machine  which  manages  for  them  all  things  political.  The  fault 
is  their  own  if  the  collar  is  on  their  necks  and  the  shackles  on  their 
feet,  and  the  overseer's  lash  is  on  their  backs. 

This  vicious  system  would  supplant  government  of  the  people, 
for  the  people  and  by  the  people.  It  would  establish  in  its  place 
government  for  graft  and  by  graft.  An  indignant  people  have 
recently  hit  this  system,  and  hit  it  hard.  A  political  Savonarola,  a 
brave,  rugged,  faithful  servant  of  the  people,  raised  the  standard 
of  revolt  in  this  great  city.  No  party  placed  his  name  on  its  official 
ballot.  He  fought  the  battle  alone,  and  won  the  splendid  fight  for 
the  freedom  of  the  people. 

What  constitutes  a  State  ? 
Not  high-raised  battlements  or  labored  mound, 

Thick  wall  or  moated  gate ; 
Not  cities  proud  with  spires  and  turrets  crowned, 

Not  bays  and  broad-armed  ports, 
Where,  laughing  at  the  storm,  rich  navies  ride; 

Not  starred  and  spangled  courts, 
Where  low-browed  Baseness  wafts  perfume  to  Pride; 

No  ;  MEN,  high-minded  MEN. 

Men  who  their  duties  know. 
But  know  their  rights,  and  knowing,  dare  maintain ; 

Prevent  the  long-aimed  blow, 
And  crush  the  tyrant  while  they  rend  the  chain; 

These  constitute  a  State. 

The  history  of  political  upheavals  has  been  that  when  they  have 
been  accomplished  those  who  brought  them  about  have  settled  back 
and  allowed  things  to  drift  again  into  the  old  conditions.  History 
will  repeat  itself  unless  citizens  take  to  heart  the  maxim  that  the 
price  of  liberty  is  eternal  vigilance.  The  tremendous  political  over- 
turn which  swept  the  bosses  from  their  strongholds  of  power  in 
cities  and  States  does  not  necessarily  indicate  a  permanent  move- 
ment in  the  political  life  of  our  time.  An  occasional  toppling  over 
of  the  bosses  will  not  of  itself  put  an  end  to  the  degenerate  system. 
The  past  has  shovm  us  that  corrupt  machines  crushed  to  earth  will 
rise  again.  The  trouble  is  that  citizens  do  not  journey  far  on  the 
highway  of  political  reform  without  becoming  tired  of  the  march. 
What  is  needed  is  more  iron  in  the  blood.  What  is  wanted  is  a 
revival  of  civic  virtue  which  shall  be  not  spasmodic,  but  enduring. 


560  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

If  the  devils  have  been  cast  out,  the  herd  of  swine  has  not  yet  run 
violently  down  into  the  sea  and  perished  in  the  waters.  What  we 
need  to  remember  is  that  once  when  an  unclean  spirit  departed  out 
of  a  man  he  went  and  took  unto  himself  seven  other  spirits  more 
wicked  than  himself,  and  they  returned  into  the  house  from  whence 
he  came  out,  anS  that  the  last  state  of  that  man  was  worse  than 
the  first. 

The  country  needs  more  men  capable  of  high  leadership.  It 
needs  men  who  have  breathed  the  breath  that  inspired  the  founders 
of  the  Eepublic,  and  who  can  walk  in  their  spirit.  It  needs  men 
who  can  lift  the  silver  trumpet  of  liberty  and  blow  a  blast  that  shaU 
roll  "through  the  forest,  and  along  the  mountain  side,  and  spread 
wide  over  the  prairies,"  and  put  an  end  not  merely  in  a  few  cities 
and  States,  but  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land  to 
the  political  boss  system  and  its  corrupt  and  corrupting  alliances 
with  the  evil  forces  of  our  time.  But  the  trumpet  will  sound  in 
vain  unless  it  reaches  the  conscience  of  the  people  and  stirs  men  to 
a  more  faithful  performance  of  the  duties  of  citizenship.  One  ot 
the  ministers  of  this  city  said  in  his  pulpit  yesterday,  and  I  want  to 
repeat  it  on  this  platform  to-night,  that  what  is  wanted  is  that  men 
should  belt  their  lives  to  the  mechanism  of  spiritual  power. 

God  give  us  men!     A  time  like  this  demands 

Strong  minds,  great  hearts,  true  faith  and  steady  hands; 

Men  whom  the  spoils  of  oflBce  cannot  buy ; 
Men  whom  the  lust  of  office  does  not  kill ; 
Men  who  possess  opinions  and  a  will ; 

Men  who  have  honor,  men  who  will  not  lie ; 
Men  who  can  stand  before  a  demagogue 

And  damn  his  treacherous  flatteries  without  winking; 
Tall  men,  sun-crowned,  who  live  above  the  fog 

In  public  duty  and  in  private  thinking. 

We  have  recognized  the  fact  that  in  a  republic  universal  educa- 
tion is  indispensable.  A  government  by  the  people  is  not  possible 
unless  the  people  are  intelligent,  and  popular  intelligence  is  im- 
possible unless  popular  education  is  provided.  Universal  suffrage 
without  universal  education  is  simply  a  delusion  and  a  snare. 
But  education  is  only  one  of  the  necessary  pillars  of  the  State. 
Alone  it  is  incapable  of  supporting  the  superstructure.  Unfortu- 
nately education  and  morality  are  not  one  and  inseparable.  If 
piercing  intelligence  suffices  to  make  men  good,  then,  as  Spencer 
has  said.  Bacon  should  have  been  honest  and  Napoleon  should  have 
been  great.     The  founders  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  under- 


JIEV.  CHARLES   CrTRBERT   HALL,  D.D.,  LL.D.  RT.  REV.  DA^^D   H.  GREER,  D.D. 


REV.  S.  PARKES   CADMAN,  D.D. 


REV.  DONALD   SAGE  MACKAY,  D.D. 


GOVERNMENT    BY    THE    PEOPLE  561 

stood  this  when  they  enacted  the  venerable  statute  of  1647,  of  which 
it  has  been  said  that  it  spread  far  like  a  benediction.  "That  learning 
may  not  be  buried  in  the  grave  of  our  fathers/'  it  was  ordered  that 
every  township  of  fifty  householders  should  maintain  a  school  for 
reading  and  writing,  and  every  town  of  a  hundred  householders  a 
school  to  fit  youths  for  the  University.  The  example  thus  set  other 
colonies  followed.  The  result  has  been  that  there  is  no  other  coun- 
try in  the  world  where  the  average  of  intelligence  is  as  high  as  in 
the  United  States.  No  other  nation  has  paid  as  much  attention  to 
the  education  of  the  people. 

You  can  keep  the  people  in  ignorance  and  have  government  of 
the  people,  and  even  government  for  the  people,  if  your  despot  is 
benevolently  inclined.  But  an  educated  people  are  not  disposed  to 
render  obedience  to  the  tyranny  of  either  an  oligarchy  or  an  aristoc- 
racy. Sir  William  Berkeley,  the  colonial  Governor  of  Virginia, 
appreciated  this  when  he  said  in  1671 :  "I  thank  God  there  are 
no  free  school??  rn  Virginia,  nor  printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not 
have  these  hundred  years;  for  learning  has  brought  disobedience 
and  heresy  and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  has  divulged 
them.     *     *     *     Qq^-j  j^ggp  ^^g  from  both." 

The  relation  of  an  autocrat  to  popular  education  finds  expres- 
sion in  the  adage :  "If  a  horse  knew  as  much  as  man,  I  would  not 
be  his  rider."  In  a  government  by  the  people  questions  of  high 
and  urgent  import  which  relate  to  the  public  welfare  have  to  be 
submitted  to  the  people  for  discussion.  It  is  for  them  in  the  last 
analysis  to  say  whether  the  country  shall  adopt  a  free  trade  or  a 
protective  policy,  whether  we  are  to  have  two  standards  of  money 
or  only  one,  whether  tliere  shall  be  municipal  or  private  ownership 
of  public  utilities. 

The  public  schools,  the  academies,  the  universities,  have  helped 
to  prepare  the  people  for  the  consideration  and  decision  of  all  such 
questions.  "I  have  learnt,"  John  Stuart  Mill  wrote  to  Motley,  "to 
have  great  trust  in  the  capability  of  the  American  people  *  *  * 
to  see  the  practical  leanings  of  a  political  question  truly  and  rapidly 
when  the  critical  moment  comes."  The  explanation  of  the  capacity 
of  the  people  to  decide  great  questions  intelligently  is  in  the  fact  that 
the  State  provides  an  education  for  all  its  citizens,  and  makes  that 
education  compulsory  upon  all. 

The  diffusion  of  education  is  not  only  an  essential  condition  of 
political  progress,  but  of  industrial  progress  as  well.  The  United 
States  has  become  the  leading  manufacturing  nation  of  the  world 


562  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

This  is  due  not  alone  to  the  fact  that  nature  endowed  our  land  with 
remarkable  wealth  of  coal  and  iron,  of  gold  and  silver  and  copper. 
Labor  is  productive  in  proportion  to  its  intelligence.  The  econo- 
mists say  that  in  the  efficiency  of  labor  the  American  workman 
stands  first. 

Government  by  the  people  cannot  be  for  long  successful  unless 
the  people  themselves  are  virtuous.  The  Greeks  recognized  the 
fact,  and  in  Plato  one  finds  this  dialogue: 

Socrates.  If,  then,  you  wish  public  measures  to  be  right  and  noble, 
virtue  must  be  given  by  you  to  the  citizens. 

Alcibiades.     How  could  any  one  deny  that? 

Socrates.  Virtue,  therefore,  is  that  which  is  to  be  first  possessed, 
both  by  you  and  by  every  other  person  who  would  have  direction  and 
care,  not  only  for  himself  and  things  dear  to  himself,  but  for  the  States 
and  things  dear  to  the  State. 

Alcibiades.     You  speak  truly. 

Socrates.  To  act  justly  and  wisely  (both  you  and  the  State)  you 
must  act  according  to  the  tvill  of  God. 

Alcibiades.     It  is  so. 

In  the  political  philosophy  of  Washington  religion  and  morality 
were  essential  to  national  prosperity.  '^Eeason  and  experience,"  he 
writes,  *^oth  forbid  us  to  expect  that  national  morality  can  prevail 
in  exclusion  of  religious  principle." 

"I  have  lived,  sir,  a  long  time,"  said  Franklin  in  proposing  that 
the  sessions  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  be  opened  with  prayer, 
"and  the  longer  I  live  the  more  convincing  proofs  I  see  of  this  truth, 
that  Ood  governs  in  the  a-ffairs  of  men.  And  if  a  sparrow  cannot 
fall  to  the  ground  without  His  notice,  is  it  probable  that  an  empire 
can  rise  without  His  aid?  *  *  *  I  firmly  believe  that  without 
His  concurring  aid  we  shall  succeed  in  the  political  building  no 
better  than  the  builders  of  Babel." 

A  minister  once  said  to  Mr.  Lincoln  that  he  hoped  the  Lord  was 
on  our  side.  To  this  Lincoln  replied  that  it  gave  him  no  concern 
whether  the  Lord  was  on  our  side  or  not,  as  he  knew  that  the  Lord 
was  always  on  the  side  of  right.  He  added  with  deep  feeling  that 
it  was  his  constant  pra.yer  that  he  and  the  nation  might  be  on  the 
Lord's  side. 

From  the  days  of  Socrates  to  this  hour  the  philosopher  and  the 
statesman  have  recognized  the  fact  that  government  must  rest  upon 
morality.  God  rules,  and  nations  and  individuals  alike  who  violate 
His  laws  must  pay  the  penalty. 


GOVERNMENT   BY    THE    PEOPLE  563 

We  may  look  to  the  State  to  educate  its  citizens.  But  we  muflt 
look  to  the  Church  to  train  men  in  morality,  which  is  as  indis- 
pensable to  nations  as  to  individuals.  In  the  degree  in  which  the 
Church  accomplishes  that  mission  we  approach  toward  that  ideal 
condition  of  which  it  may  once  more  be  said  that 

Then  none  was  for  a  party, 

Then  all  were  for  the  State; 
Then  the  great  man  helped  the  poor, 

And  the  poor  man  loved  the  great. 

The  men  who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Eepublic  were  religious 
men.  When  the  first  Congress  met  in  1774  a  motion  was  made  that 
it  be  opened  with  prayer.  John  Jay,  himself  a  devout  man,  op- 
posed it  on  the  ground  that  as  some  of  the  members  were  Episco- 
palians, some  Quakers,  some  Anabaptists,  some  Presbyterians,  and 
some  Congregationalists,  they  could  not  join  in  the  same  act  of 
worship. 

Thereupon  Samuel  Adams,  a  Congregationalist,  arose,  impres- 
sive and  venerable,  his  gray  hairs  hanging  about  his  shoulders,  and 
said  that  it  did  not  become  Christian  men  who  had  assemble.d  for 
solemn  deliberation  in  the  hour  of  their  country's  extremity,  to  say 
that  on  account  of  their  differences  in  religious  belief  they  could 
not  as  one  man  bow  the  knee  in  prayer  to  the  God  whose  advice 
and  assistance  they  hoped  to  obtain.  Enemy  as  he  was  to  all 
prelacy,  Mr.  Adams  moved  that  the  Eev.  Mr.  Duch^  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church  be  desired  to  read  prayers  to  the  Congress. 

In  this  the  most  momentous  assembly  that  had  yet  been  held  in 
America  the  Episcopal  service  of  the  Church  of  England  was  read, 
and  the  clergyman  then  offered  an  extemporaneous  prayer. 

The  most  brilliant  men  of  America  were  there :  Washington, 
Richard  Henry  Lee,  Patrick  Henry,  Gadsden,  Eutledge  and  Samuel 
and  John  Adams.  The  fervor,  the  ardor,  the  earnestness  and  the 
pathos  of  that  prayer  for  America  and  for  the  Congress  moved  to 
tears  the  representatives  of  the  people  met  together  for  the  redress 
of  intolerable  grievances. 

Patriotism  led  these  men  to  sink  their  denominational  differ- 
ences in  a  day  when  religious  prejudices  were  potent.  Shall  not 
patriotism  lead  the  men  of  our  generation  once  more  to  forget  dif- 
ferences about  non-essentials  and  federate  the  Churches  to  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  welfare  of  our  common  country? 

This  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation  assembles  at  a 
time  when  thoughtful  men  are  deeply  concerned  with  great  moral 


564  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

issues  which  existing  conditions  in  the  commercial  and  political 
life  of  the  country  have  made  exceedingly  prominent.  If  the  pur- 
pose which  brought  us  here  is  realized  we  shall  have  strengthened 
the  foundations  upon  which  government  by  the  people  forever  de- 
pends. Let  us  federate  the  Churches  that  we  may  have  a  more 
effective  agency  for  the  prevention  of  that  corruption  which  all 
history  teaches  leads  to  the  overthrow  of  the  liberties  of  the  people 
and  the  downfall  of  states.  Let  us  federate  the  Churches  in  the 
hope  that  we  shall  thereby  the  better  aid  in  making  impossible  in 
this  our  country  a  government  by  privileged  classes,  which  in  the 
end  inevitably  leads  to  anarchy  and  then  to  despotism.  Let  us 
federate  the  Churches  that  a  more  determined  effort  may  be  made 
to  establish  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  the  earth,  and  that  all  classes 
and  conditions  of  men  may  love  one  another  and  do  unto  others  as 
they  would  that  men  should  do  unto  them.  Let  us  federate  the 
Churches  that  the  army  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty  may  have  greater 
moral  courage  and  a  more  determined  purpose  as  it  wages  battle 
to  establish  righteousness  and  justice  and  mercy  in  the  earth. 

The  Ship  of  State  must  hold  her  course  true  between  the  Scylla 
and  Charybdis  of  anarchy  and  despotism.  There  are  times  of  storm 
ahead  as  severe  as  any  which  have  been  encountered,  and  in  which 
the  ship  will  be 

In  what  a  sea  of  troubles  toss'd. 

The  stars  will  be  hidden  in  darkness.     The  seas  will  be 

Rough  with  black  winds  and  storms. 

But  the  ship  will  gloriously  voyage  on  if  only  the  hand  which 
holds  the  helm  takes  counsel  of  no  other  compass  than  that  of  the 
Word  of  God  and  His  righteousness. 

In  God  we  trust.  If  our  faith  in  God  is  stamped  not  on  our 
dollars,  but  in  the  very  character  and  fibre  of  our  people,  the  Ameri- 
can Eepublic  will  endure.  May  the  people  have  that  faith  in  God's 
supremacy  over  the  affairs  of  men  and  nations  which  led  David  to 
say:  "Blessed  be  thou,  Lord  God  of  Israel,  our  Father  for  ever 
and  ever.  Thine,  0  Lord,  is  the  greatness,  and  the  power,  and  the 
glory,  and  the  victory,  and  the  majesty:  thine  is  the  kingdom.  0 
Lord,  and  thou  art  exalted  as  head  above  all.  Both  riches  and 
honor  come  of  thee,  and  thou  reignest  over  all ;  and  in  thine  hand 
is  power  and  might ;  and  in  thine  hand  it  is  to  make  great  and  to 
give  strength  unto  all." 


A   UNITED  CHURCH   AND   CHRISTIAN 
PROGRESS 


ECCLESIASTICAL    FRATERNITY 
The  Rbv.  S.  Parkes  Cadman,  D.D. 

Mr.  President,  Fathers  and  Brethren: 

The  title  of  my  theme  was  assigned  and  not  chosen  or  I 
should  have  been  tempted  to  name  a  better  term  as  suggestive 
of  our  genuine  brotherhood.  For  we  are  not  one  in  the  Church, 
and  we  are  not  one  in  the  Bible;  no  uniform  system  of  polity  or 
doctrine  makes  for  us  the  bond  of  unity.  We  are  one  in  Him 
whose  personality  and  redemption  embrace  all  men  in  all  time. 
"We  are  one  in  our  vital  fealty  to  the  Living  and  the  Present 
Christ  as  the  Eevealer  of  God  the  Father,  and  as  the  Elder 
Brother  in  that  Father's  house.  We  are  one  in  the  correlated 
experiences  of  the  Christian  consciousness  which  created  the 
Church  and  the  literature  of  the  New  Testament.  We  are  one 
in  a  universal  sense  of  sin  and  of  deliverance  from  sin.  The 
Personality  which  is  the  gateway  of  all  revelation  in  God  and  the 
creature  is  also  the  fountain  of  those  vital  forces  which  issue  to 
all  alike  in  streams  of  grace  and  healing,  purity  and  goodness. 
And  our  holy  ambition  for  the  fruits  of  righteousness  which  are 
by  Jesus  Christ  unto  the  glory  and  praise  of  God,  is  the  product  of 
the  divine  life  in  men  which  enthrones  justice  and  wisdom  and 
hails  their  sovereign  sway,  whatever  hazard  is  entailed. 

Hence  true  Fraternity  is  not  of  the  Church,  nor  is  its  fate 
bound  up  in  any  formulated  beliefs  about  the  Church  or  the 
Scriptures.  It  is  the  direct  product  of  God  in  Christ ;  it  is  found 
in  all  believers  and  in  all  Churches;  it  increases  in  intension  and 
extension  as  Christ  is  the  more  appreciated  by  men  everywhere 
in  all  His  fulness;  and  the  only  separatists  I  know  are  the  men 
who  deny  this  unity  for  supposititious  advancement  of  their  pe- 
culiar sect.  The  disintegration  of  our  brotherhood  can  be  at- 
tempted by  one  class  alone;  those  who  harbor  the  root  of  all 
schism  and  mischief  by  asserting  that  the  universal  life  and  love 
of  the  Father  and  the  Son  are  limited  to  their  organization  and  to 
their  symbols.  Even  then  they  are  bound  to  fail :  as  well  attempt 
to  bind  the  planets  as  restrain  the  catholicity  and  simplicity  which 
are  the  ministries  of  God's  Spirit  to  this  age. 

Moreover  this  vital  union  has  prevailed  always  and  every- 
where in  the  Kingdom  of  God.     The  rivalries  and  antagonisms 

567 


568  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

which  have  destroyed  the  heart  and  hope  of  millions,  abolished 
their  sympathy,  quenched  their  enthusiasm  and  provoked  their 
indifference,  have  bulked  largely  in  the  popular  view.  The  war- 
rings  in  thick  mists  of  passion  and  of  prejudice  when  brother 
slew  brother,  not  knowing  whom  he  slew,  are  sadly  familiar  to 
us  all.  Our  critics  have  not  been  willing  they  should  lightly  pass, 
nor  is  it  well  they  should. 

But  one  of  the  main  ends  of  this  Conference  is  to  call  at- 
tention to  another  history,  to  the  permanence  of  love  and  service, 
and  to  emphasize  the  defeat  of  those  elements  of  human  wrath 
which  obscured  the  world-purpose  of  God.  With  gentleness  the 
greater  because  unaided  by  any  outward  circumstances,  the  deli- 
cate but  inviolable  plea  of  the  divine  life  within  men  has  ever  re- 
newed its  yearning  and  asked  for  a  satisfying  confederacy  of 
charity  and  character. 

We  are  favored  by  Time's  ameliorations;  we  are  aided  by  the 
stronger  light  of  the  increasing  truth.  Let  us  reflect  for  a  mo- 
ment on  a  unique  gift  of  God  which  all  saints  of  all  schools — 
Patristic,  Scholastic,  Roman  and  Protestant — possessed  together. 
Their  devotional  literature,  their  meditations,  their  desires,  their 
songs  and  prayers,  bear  in  upon  you  one  comprehensive  message, 
and  if  I  may  dare  to  put  it  in  a  single  word  used  by  Dr.  H.  H. 
Reynolds,  their  supreme  petition  was  for  ''Reconciliation  through 
union  to  Christ  with  the  Living  God." 

Segregated  in  much  else,  bigotedly  assertive  concerning  doc- 
trinal cast  and  ecclesiastical  form,  willing  to  burn  and  be  burned 
for  their  opinions,  they  were  also  tragically  unaware  of  the  hidden 
vitalities  in  which  friend  and  foe  participated.  When  you  pene- 
trate beyond  their  outward  turbulence,  and  in  the  quiet  confes- 
sional of  the  spirit  listen  to  their  speech,  it  is  one  language  for  all 
souls.  It  renews  itself  with  every  consciousness  of  sin  and  failure 
and  helpless  insignificance.  It  breaks  into  praise  in  rapt  con- 
templation of  Eternal  love  and  the  mercy  which  endureth  for- 
ever, and  no  man  can  read  these  ancient  records  without  dimmed 
eye  and  agitated  breast,  and  the  irresistible  conviction  that  these 
sundered  and  militant  people  were  a  brotherhood  at  the  base. 

Despite  the  violence  of  their  age,  the  Queen  of  Navarre  and 
Cardinal  Pole  adored  the  same  Lord  and  met  at  one  altar  of 
the  spirit.  Lancelot  Andrewes  and  John  Knox  cast  anchor  to- 
gether, not  in  the  "historic  Episcopate,"  but  in  the  Gospel  of 
maturity  written  by  St.  John,  and  those  foes  in  all  else,  William 


ECCLESIASTICAL    FRATERNITY  569 

Laud  and  John  Eliot,  were  blended  in  the  deeps  of  the  boundless 
life  of  God  as  they  made  ready  for  mortal  ending  in  the  Tower 
of  London. 

There  is  a  tendency  in  our  revolt  against  denominational  ex- 
periments to  decry  their  real  value.  During  the  centuries  the 
Protestant  sects  have  flourished,  Christianity  has  made  consid- 
erable advances.  Neglected  aspects  of  the  truth,  weakly  and  im- 
perfectly held,  and,  at  intervals,  entirely  obscured,  have  been 
restored  to  the  orb  of  Christian  verity;  and  the  services  of  evan- 
gelical Protestantism  to  the  modern  world  have  given  it  rights 
in  morals,  in  philosophy,  in  literature,  in  freedom  and  in  religion 
which  take  equal  place  with  older  forms  of  the  faith. 

Who  knows  the  far-reaching  reciprocities  of  our  ecclesiastical 
revolution?  That  which  we  complain  of  as  a  rent  in  the  walls 
of  the  city  of  God  may  be,  and  I  think  it  has  been,  a  necessary 
fissure,  if  the  healing  light  were  to  shine  through  upon  those  that 
sat  in  darkness.  But  the  point  upon  which  I  dwell  is  this :  these 
typical  segregations  were  in  seeming  more  than  in  reality.  The 
earnest  Friend,  the  reverent  Romanist,  the  devout  Anglican,  the 
ardent  Methodist,  the  godly  Presbyterian,  the  catholic  Congre- 
gationalist,  partook  of  one  manna  and  drank  of  the  same  spiritual 
Rock,  and  their  Rock  was  Christ. 

Methods  of  appropriating  God  to  the  soul  and  the  soul  to  its 
God  may  have  been  sacramental  or  legal ;  temperament,  tradition 
and  environment  did  undoubtedly  color  and  mould  the  allegiance 
men  held,  but  the  appropriation  was  made  and  the  allegiance  was 
caused  by  God's  life  operating  upon  the  best  there  was  in  men. 

To  push  the  inquiry,  how  does  this  federal  spiritual  nature  and 
condition  make  a  common  kingdom  inclusive  of  us  all  ?  The  reply 
is  taken  directly  from  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  He  gives  this  life 
to  you,  to  me,  to  all  believers,  and  in  the  mystery  of  godliness  to 
many  beyond  the  pale  who  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing 
seek  for  the  capacities  of  immortality. 

Such  a  union,  so  vast,  so  boundless,  so  noble,  is  the  eclipse  of 
miracle,  the  inner  genius  of  a  world-compelling  Gospel.  It  is 
more  than  a  message,  or  a  ministry;  more  than  the  bond  of  a 
common  employment  and  an  identical  aim.  It  is  the  invisible 
manifestation  in  us  of  the  Eternal  Existence  and  the  Eternal  Will 
which  takes  its  final  shape  in  the  regenerated  universe  where  holi- 
ness shall  reign  through  sacrifice,  and  justice  be  held  in  love. 

One  is  distressed  when  he  seeks  to  define  such  an  overwhelm 


570  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

ing  wonder  of  grace.  Notwithstanding  the  plain  teaching  of  the 
Master  and  His  Apostles,  it  is  beyond  our  forms  of  thought  and 
speech  and  worship.  We  name  it,  and  know  its  invincible  hold 
upon  us,  and  push  our  poor  speculations  into  its  domain.  It 
dominates  all  consciousness  of  God  and  all  experiences  of  His 
Will  concerning  us.  It  interfuses  all  hearts  and  creeds,  and  its 
beatification  rests  upon  all  altars  and  all  covenants.  The  compre- 
hension is  Pentecostal,  but  it  is  not  sufficient.  And  we  bow  in 
lowly  reverence  before  the  mighty  truth  of  our  fraternity,  that 
we  shall  live  forever  in  the  eternal  life  of  God,  and  after  the 
pattern  of  His  Son. 

The  most  pungent  application  of  this  divine  vitality  in  the 
Church  is  found  in  Psalmody  and  Hymns.  The  gifts  of  minstrelsy 
and  poetry  subserve  fraternity  because  they  are  our  truest  ex- 
pressions of  this  living  union.  Christian  hymns  follow  the  best 
of  the  Psalms  in  the  divine  heights  and  depths  men  have  been 
able  to  explore.  They  are  magnificently  independent  of  doctrinal 
and  disciplinary  restraints  and  penalties. 

They  have  kept  alive  the  larger  ideals  of  Jesus  as  creeds  have 
never  done.  Who  cares  so  desperately  that  August  M.  Toplady 
and  Charles  Wesley  fought  over  the  trampled  battlegrounds  of  the 
Calvinistic  controversy?  That  one  of  these  men  should  write, 
"Eock  of  Ages,  Cleft  for  Me,"  and  the  other,  "Come  0  Thou 
Traveller  Unknown,"  means  infinitely  more  for  the  defense  and 
establishment  of  the  Gospel  than  their  disputes  about  Calvinism 
meant.  In  these  l3aics  they  imparted  sweetness  and  light  to 
evangelical  movements,  and  they  rose  superior  to  their  painful 
misunderstandings. 

Surely  I  have  said  enough  to  expose  a  region  of  veritable  ex- 
perience cleared  for  sympathy,  heroism  and  service.  May  not  the 
glowing  joy  which  fills  the  reconciled  spirit  confer  afresh  on  us 
that  real  sense  of  brotherhood  which  we  perceive  in  the  past,  and 
sing  of  now?  I  am  being  made  aware  in  this  assembly  as  never 
before  that  though  we  do  not  think  alike,  we  live  alike;  that  this 
life's  glorious  catholicities  are  ours  and  all  men's  who  share  it,  and 
that  the  august  anticipation  of  an  inseparable  union  in  bliss  and 
in  worship  beyond  the  Church  on  earth  has  its  reasonable  basis 
in  the  thrilling  evidences  of  our  present  experience. 

The  flower  of  Anglican  culture  and  saintliness  in  the  last  cen- 
tury, Bishop  Lightfoot  of  Durham,  concluded  his  Introduction 
to  a  Commentary  on  The  Philippian  Epistle  thus: 


ECCLESIASTICAL    FRATERyiTY  571 

"While  we  are  expending  our  strength  on  theological  defini- 
tions or  ecclesiastical  rules,  this  letter  recalls  us  from  such  dis- 
tractions to  the  very  life  of  Christ  and  the  life  in  Christ.  Here 
is  the  meeting  place  of  all  our  difference,  the  healing  of  all  our 
sects,  the  true  life  aUke  of  individuals  and  of  Churches;  for  here 
doctrine  and  practice  are  wedded  together  and  here  is  the  Creed 
of  Creeds  involved  in  and  arising  out  of  the  Work  of  Works." 

Again,  the  controlling  idea,  the  apprehended  reality,  which 
makes  us  brothers  in  the  Truth,  is  before  the  Conference.  We  hold 
in  unison  "the  autonomy,  supremacy  and  ethical  quality  of  the  spir- 
itual principle."  We  deem  this  the  greatest  of  heavenly  purposes, 
the  loveliest  of  earthly  dreams,  the  most  undying  of  historic 
forces;  it  is  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  every  true  Church  is  an 
active  medium  for  its  realization.  The  best  assurance  in  the 
region  of  Truth  for  this  end  is  the  sovereignty  of  Jesus  over  the 
whole  life  of  man. 

We  fearlessly  appeal  to  history,  and  ask  if  there  be  any  reli- 
gion which  has  purified  and  regenerated  the  life  of  the  ages  as 
Christianity  has  done? 

Dr.  James  Martineau  rejoiced  that  he  could  look  on  Jesus  as 
the  Prince  of  Saints,  who  reveals  the  highest  possibilities  of  the 
human  soul  and  their  dependence  on  habitual  communion  between 
man  and  God.  We  rejoice  that  we  can  go  beyond  the  statement 
of  so  illustrious  a  Doctor  of  Theology,  and  that  we  can  look  on 
Jesus  as  the  Saviour  of  the  Saints  and  of  the  Sinners,  too.  The 
authority  of  Martineau  is  subordinate ;  the  authority  of  the  New 
Testament  is  final.  The  Christianity  that  does  the  work,  that  re- 
deems the  millions,  that  knows  no  distinction  in  color  or  culture, 
that  has  verified  its  claims  in  a  thousand  legitimate  ways,  and 
will  verify  them  in  a  thousand  more,  is  the  truth  of  God  for  us; 
and  compared  with  it  the  conceptions  of  the  speciQator  are  con- 
fused dreams  which  vanish  in  the  dawn  of  its  rising. 

Not  the  less,  but  the  more,  are  we  under  obligation  to  see 
that  whatever  is  transient  and  perishable  in  our  beliefs  is  purged 
away.  We  are  not  to  be  hindered  in  articulating  the  unchanging 
Gospel  with  modern  immensities  by  the  illusions  left  over  from 
obsolete  stages.  The  chronic  accuser  of  the  brethren,  who  lies 
awake  at  night  to  guard  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  and  views  the 
prospect  of  religion  in  the  shadows  cast  by  his  own  fear,  is  not 
of  faith's  order,  and  he  certainly  promotes  no  fraternity. 

Two  classes  of  men  who  apply  the  truth  to  life  are  noticeable : 


572  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

those  who  starve  that  life  by  withholding  necessary  elements,  and 
again,  those  who  smother  it  by  an  undue  insistence  upon  super- 
fluous details. 

We  must  yield  to  neither  class,  we  must  cherish  a  generous 
belief  in  the  final  outcome  of  the  conflict  between  truth  and  error, 
and  we  must  show  to  men  at  large  that,  notwithstanding  our  tra- 
ditions, Churchmen  can  have  as  great  a  passion  for  veracity  as 
any  profession  of  scientific  inquiry.  Reverent  and  constructive 
toH  to  reconstruct  the  theology  of  the  Churches  done  by  com- 
petent hands  and  loyal  hearts,  increases  the  grip  of  faith  upon 
humanity  and  more  clearly  reveals  the  love  and  the  aims  of  the 
Father. 

Every  truth  which  teaches  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man  is  involved  in  the  supremacy  of  Christ.  Chris- 
tianity is  betrayed  at  the  centre  when  He  is  denied  in  any  sense  as 
the  Eternal  Word.  And  it  has  always  seemed  strange  that  those 
who  are  most  anxious  to  proclaim  the  Fatherhood  are  prone  to 
ignore  the  only  sufficient  warrant  and  proof  of  such  a  revelation. 

Our  fraternity  flourishes  in  breadth,  but  it  lives  in  depth,  and 
spiritual  geography  cannot  follow  the  policy  of  the  skittish  verse 
I  once  heard  from  an  old  professor.  It  represents  a  map  undis- 
turbed by  any  measurements,  which  a  captain  showed  to  his  crew : 

He  had  bought  a  large  map,  representing  the  sea, 

Without  the  least  vestige  of  land; 
And  the  crew  were  well  pleased  when  they  found  it  to  be 

A  map  they  could  all  understand. 
What's  the  use  of  Mercator's  North  Pole  and  Equators, 

Tropics,  zones  and  meridian  lines? 
So  the  captain  would  cry,  and  the  crew  would  reply, 

"They  are  only  conventional  signs." 

Temporary  and  localized  phases  of  thought  which  have  borne 
no  large  part  in  the  essential  mission  of  God's  redemptive  agencies 
cannot  be  magnified  at  the  expense  of  cardinal  announcements 
which  have  the  witness  of  revelation  and  experience. 

For  these  latter  show  that  the  Person  of  Christ  will  continue 
to  be  the  sun  and  the  centre  of  the  Christian  System  when  all 
our  theologies  have  been  superseded  by  a  nobler  interpretation  of 
God.  And  while  we  welcome  any  fellowship  in  the  spiritual  prin- 
ciple which  aids  it  against  the  o'erweening  greed  and  materialism 
of  our  day,  we  rightly  insist  that  Christ  Jesus  is  the  One  Divine 
Lord. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  FRATERNITY  573 

We  do  this  because  it  is  an  easy  and  a  pleasant  thing  to  do.  We 
resent  the  importation  into  so  important  a  question  of  any  person- 
alities. It  is  not  before  us  imder  this  head  that  this  man  or  that  i^; 
a  useful  and  honored  member  of  society,  without  whose  company 
heaven  would  scarcely  be  preferable.  Such  observations  illuminate 
very  little.  It  is  because  the  Person  and  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  stand 
and  fall  together;  it  is  because  men  are  not  saved  by  bewitching 
legalities,  but  by  faith  in  Christ's  revelation  of  God  in  His  life 
before  and  during  and  beyond  His  death;  it  is  because  self-obliter- 
ation and  self-sacrifice  are  not  substitutes  for  faith,  but  the  fruits 
of  faith  in  the  Divine  Saviour  and  High  Priest,  that  we  know  no 
man  here  save  Jesus  only.  And  permit  me  to  add  that  the  blessing 
of  man,  leave  alone  that  of  God,  has  never  conspicuously  rested  on 
any  other  Gospel.  For  if  we  are  saved  by  works,  then  the  whole 
battle  of  St.  Paul  with  Judaism,  and  later  of  the  Eeformers  in  the 
Sixteenth  Century,  must  be  fought  again. 

Our  Fraternity  is  further  strengthened  by  our  companionship 
in  Christian  effort.  This  world  of  divine  and  abiding  realities  is 
about  us  always;  it  becomes  our  possession  by  faith,  and  the  life 
which  is  life  indeed  is  meant  to  transfigure  and  perfect  all  human 
interests.  These  interests,  in  suburb  or  slum,  princedom  or  pur- 
lieus, city  centre  or  mission  field  and  any  far-off  lands  of  darkness, 
are  under  the  rule  and  sway  of  a  general  redemption  that  casts 
nothing  aside,  and  is  forever  striving  to  rid  our  earthly  existence  of 
the  blight  which  has  fallen  upon  it,  and  bring  it  out  from  the 
shadow  of  defilement  into  the  light  of  God. 

Nor  can  we  regard  our  Christianity  as  complete  until  human 
history  is  purged  of  its  false  ambitions  and  its  sinister  aims,  until 
human  society  with  all  its  possibilities  is  a  sharer  in  the  general 
welfare  of  life's  highest  form.  So  the  Christian  comrade  lives  in 
this  power  of  "the  world  to  come,"  and  fights  what  St.  Paul  aptly 
called  "the  beautiful  fight,"  impatient  with  his  own  heritage  until 
he  has  shared  its  benefit  with  his  brethren,  and  keeping  his  own 
Gospel  by  always  imparting  it. 

And  here  we  find  ample  room  for  many  who,  because  they  are 
not  against  us  are  for  us.  They  do  not  see  this  life  eternal  from 
our  angle;  their  perception  of  the  truth  is  not  in  harmony  with 
ours,  but  they  have  heard  the  call  to  duty,  the  call  peremptory  and 
absolute,  and  are  earning  their  fraternal  recognition  in  the  prac- 
tical arena  where  all  gifts  and  graces  are  put  to  the  test.  I^et  us 
gladly  welcome  them  here,  for  the  broader  lines  of  demarcation  are 


574  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

drawn  in  this  outer  world,  and  a  strategist  in  the  Holy  War  will 
know  how  to  adjust  the  pent-up  energies  within  him  to  the  imme- 
diate demands  of  his  day. 

We  must  avoid  the  weakness  of  a  cloistered  belief,  and  because 
we  are  firmly  fixed  in  our  unutterable  and  profound  conviction 
about  Jesus  Christ  and  His  religion,  we  can  the  more  freely  accept 
the  brotherhood  of  a  common  effort.  It  may  fall  short  in  places 
of  the  regenerating  demonstrations  which  are  the  sacred  trophies 
of  the  Church;  but  even  Evangelical  Christianity,  so  called,  has 
had  no  monopoly  of  successful  toil,  and  in  the  dimensions  of  the 
Christian  system  there  is  a  place  for  the  humanitarian,  the  etliical 
teacher,  the  social  pioneer  and  the  prophet  of  a  new  order.  God 
forbid  it  should  ever  be  otherwise !  And  we  do  well  to  recall  the 
directing  Head  who  can  use  that  which  we  repel,  and  in  its  incom- 
pleteness manifest  His  perfect  will. 

When  we  read  of  the  trenchant  advances  of  Christianity  in  the 
past,  despite  the  demoralizing  influences  of  that  ecclesiasticism 
which  is  but  the  snake  of  selfishness  in  another  guise;  when  we 
soliloquize  upon  the  humble  peasants  who  became  the  masters  of  a 
new  type  of  humanity,  and  brought  a  Caesar  in  worship  to  the  feet 
of  a  crucified  Jew,  and  how  this  creed  and  its  advocates  have  taken 
the  seats  of  the  mighty,  and  continued  the  reign  of  the  best,  shall 
we  not  also  consider  from  what  varied  sources  of  Greece  and  Eome 
and  Alexandria  and  the  desert  places  the  welding  of  our  Church 
was  clenched  ?  We  owe  a  great  deal  to  variety,  as  well  as  to  unity. 
Give  us  the  Eisen  Jesus,  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  all  souls,  and 
then  let  God  fling  what  civilizations  He  pleases  in  the  pathway  of 
our  forward  movement.  In  the  march,  the  strife,  the  victory  for  a 
glorified  race,  the  Church  of  God  will  discover  its  larger  mind,  its 
purer  self,  as  it  can  never  find  them  in  debate  and  convention. 

And  this  is  said  without  unsaying  aught  in  my  previous  words. 
Confident  that  Christ  will  be  preached,  because  my  fellow  men  Avill 
hear  of  none  other;  confident  that  He  will  redeem,  because  His 
intercourse  with  my  fellow  men  shows  Him  Priest  and  King ;  con- 
fident that  He  will  instruct  and  govern  the  generations,  since  all 
goodness  flows  from  His  character  and  influence,  we  freely  confess 
the  Great  Name,  and  clasp  hands  to-day  with  all  who,  wittingly 
or  unwittingly,  sustain  His  cause.  "For  to-morrow,  they  will  know 
even  as  thev  are  known." 


MISSIONARY   ACTIVITY 


The  Rev.  J.  Ross  Stevenson,   D.D. 


For  six  days  we  have  been  in  conference  regarding  Church 
unity,  and  in  the  wonderfully  illuminating  and  inspiring  addresses 
which  have  been  made,  no  one,  so  far  as  I  have  heard,  has  been 
rash  enough  to  propose  an  exact  definition  of  the  Church.  What 
would  happen  if  we  should  try  to  agree  upon  all  the  distinguishing 
marks  of  the  true  Church  it  is  easy  to  imagine.  And  yet,  if  we 
are  to  work  together  as  Churches,  we  must  have  some  common  con- 
ception of  what  the  Church  is  and  of  what  business  she  has  in  the 
world.  I  therefore  make  bold  to  call  your  attention  to  a  definition 
of  the  Church  that  is  scriptural  and  apostolic,  that  is  simple,  yet 
most  comprehensive,  that  furnishes  a  basis  upon  which  each  de- 
nomination may  work,  and  all  work  together:  It  is  this — the 
Church  is  a  missionary  society.  In  1897,  the  Lambeth  Conference 
of  Bishops  of  the  Anglican  Communion  declared  that  missionary 
activity  constitutes  ^'^the  primary  work  of  the  Church,  the  work 
for  which  the  Church  was  commissioned  by  her  Lord."  More  than 
half  a  century  ago,  the  denomination  to  which  I  belong  uttered 
this  testimony :  "The  Presbyterian  Church  is  a  missionary  society, 
the  object  of  which  is  to  aid  in  the  conversion  of  the  world,  and 
every  member  of  this  Church  is  a  member  for  life  of  said  society, 
and  bound  to  do  all  in  his  power  for  the  accomplishment  of  this 
object.'*'  And  later  the  highest  court  in  our  Church  passed  this 
deliverance :  We  regard  "the  whole  Church  as  a  missionary  society 
whose  main  work  is  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  salvation."  This 
accords  with  the  divine  purpase  running  through  the  ages,  to  re- 
deem mankind;  with  the  ultimate  aim  of  revelation  that  all  may 
know  the  Lord  from  the  least  to  the  greatest;  with  the  supreme 
passion  of  our  crucified  Saviour  and  risen  Lord,  who  will  have  all 
men  to  be  saved;  with  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  Chris- 
tianity itself,  since,  as  Max  Muller  once  said :  "Christianity  is  mis- 
sionary, aggressive,  world  embracing ;  if  it  ceased  to  be  missionary 
it  would  cease  to  exist."  And  it  accords  with  what  should  be  the 
commanding  purpose  in  every  Christian  life,  since  a  Christian  life 
in  which  missionary  activity  has  no  place  "is  as  great  a  moral  con- 
tradiction as  one  which  is  indifferent  to  the  elementary  virtues  of 

^75 


576  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

the  Christian  moral  ideal."  Therefore,  the  missionary  idea  is  the 
great  unifying  idea  of  Christendom.  There  is  not  the  slightest 
probability  that  in  these  latter  days  an  Ecumenical  Council  will  be 
called  to  settle  matters  of  dogma,  or  to  decide  upon  some  satis- 
factory ecclesiastical  polity,  or  to  arrange  some  form  of  common 
worship.  But  we  do  have,  and  we  will  continue  to  have,  our  Ecu- 
menical Conferences. 

We  regard  this  as  the  missionary  age  of  the  Church.  The  king- 
dom of  God,  which  has  been  defined  as  the  Church  at  work  in  the 
world,  ha.s  made  her  greatest  progress  in  missionary  territory,  and 
in  order  that  this  progress  may  continue,  in  order  that  it  may  be 
adequate  to  the  task  before  us,  and  the  command  behind  us,  and 
the  passion  which  should  be  in  us,  there  must  be  a  united  Church. 

I.  Are  we  as  fully  aware  as  we  should  be  that  Christian  prog- 
ress in  Missions  has  been  the  strongest  unifying  element  in  the 
Church? 

1.  The  world's  evangelization  furnishes  an  objective  which  will 
bring  and  hold  Christians  together  so  long  as  it  is  kept  prominently 
in  view.  In  the  time  of  the  apostles,  when  no  small  dissension  arose 
regarding  the  Mosaic  ritual,  and  a  division  in  the  Church  seemed 
imminent,  it  was  prevented  by  a  missionary  meeting  often  called 
the  Council  of  Jerusalem,  when  the  testimony  of  three  missionaries 
as  to  what  God  had  wrought  among  the  Gentiles  was  heard,  and  the 
Apostle  James  gave  an  exposition  of  the  missionary  teaching  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  differences  of  those  early  Christians  seemed  insig- 
nificant when  placed  over  against  the  divine  enterprise  of  giving 
the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  When  troubles  arose  in  particular 
churches  which  Paul  had  planted,  he  quieted  the  disturbance  either 
by  sending  one  of  his  missionary  helpers,  or  by  writing  a  missionary 
letter.  It  was  easy  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace  when  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  was  dominating  the  Church, 
and  that  Spirit  had  been  given  for  the  missionary  purpose.  When, 
on  the  other  hand,  spiritual  life  ebbed,  when  aggressive  work  ceased, 
when  there  was  nothing  to  call  the  Church  outside  of  herself  and 
engage  her  noblest  endeavors,  her  energies  were  wasted  in  contro- 
versies which  were  often  bitter  and  fruitless.  The  most  disintegrat- 
ing periods  of  the  Church,  the  times  when  Christians  waged  such 
war  among  themselves  that  they  lost  the  ground  which  had  been 
won  at  great  cost,  have  been  marked  by  the  lack  of  missionary  in- 
terest and  activity.    But  since  the  dawn  of  modem  missions  the 


MISSIONARY    ACTIVITY  577 

old  apostolic  fire  has  been  melting  the  various  denominations  in 
their  icy  isolation  and  has  been  making  them  flow  together  into  one 
great  stream  of  missionary  benefaction. 

2.  It  is  notable  that  the  movement  for  a  united  Church  has 
its  greatest  strength  in  connection  with  missionary  enterprise. 
Have  we  forgotten  that  some  of  the  earliest  missionary  societies 
formed  in  revival  times  when  the  Spirit  of  God  was  at  work  in  the 
Church  were  Interdenominational;  for  example,  the  London  Mis- 
sionary Society,  established  in  1795,  and  composed  of  Congrega- 
tionalists,  Presbyterians,  Wesleyans  and  Episcopalians,  or  the  New 
York  Missionary  Society,  established  in  1796,  and  embracing  Pres- 
byterian, Baptist  and  Dutch  Reformed  Churches,  or  the  American 
Board,  which  has  numbered  among  its  commissioners  not  only  the 
Congregationahsts,  but  Presbyterians  and  members  of  the  Associate 
Reformed,  Dutch  Reformed  and  German  Reformed  Churches? 
Great  Interdenominational  agencies,  such  as  Bible  and  Tract  So- 
cieties, Young  Men's  and  Yoimg  Women's  Christian  Associations 
and  Volunteer  Movements  have,  for  the  most  part,  the  missionary 
aim.  Our  attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  cooperation  that 
has  been  found  to  be  practicable  and  effective  in  city  evangeliza- 
tion on  Home  Mission  territory,  and  especially  in  the  foreign  field. 
In  India,  China,  Japan,  Korea,  Mexico,  Brazil  and  the  Philippines 
measures  have  been  taken  to  bring  together  different  members  of 
the  same  ecclesiastical  family,  to  establish  evangehcal  unions,  and 
even  to  form  one  Protestant  Christian  Church,  as  in  Korea,  where 
the  Methodists  and  Presb)i«rians  are  planning  a  corporate  union. 

3.  This  spirit  of  unity  and  Federation  on  mission  fields  must 
make  itself  inevitably  felt  upon  the  whole  Church.  We  have  profited 
beyond  estimation  from  the  reflex  influence  of  missions.  Confidence 
in  the  Gospel  has  been  strengthened  by  the  evidence  of  what  it  can 
actually  accomplish  when  faithfully  preached  in  any  region.  Chris- 
tian life,  by  having  such  an  outlet,  is  no  longer  stagnant  and  pesti- 
lential, but  fresh,  healthful,  joyous.  Activity  in  the  work  near  at 
hand  has  been  quickened  since,  as  Jacob  Riis  puts  it,  "for  every 
doUar  given  to  those  in  need  abroad,  the  spirit  that  gives  it  pro- 
vides ten  for  home  use."  But  there  is  a  more  comprehensive  influ- 
ence, that  which  emphasizes  the  essential  points  in  which  Churches 
are  all  one,  and  the  truth  that  must  first  of  all  be  propagated.  The 
Church  that  is  tall  enough  to  see  the  needs  of  the  regions  beyond  is 
easily  able  to  look  across  denominational  boundaries.    The  hand 


578  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

that  can  reach  out  to  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth  has  back  of 
it  an  arm  long  enough  to  encircle  the  whole  communion  of  saints. 
The  missionary  who  is  intent  upon  giving  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature  can  join  heart  and  hand  with  every  Christian  of  whatever 
name  who  has  the  same  dominating  purpose. 

II,     But  the  reverse  is  just  as  true.    In  order  to  make  that 
progress  which  Christ  commands,  the  Church  must  be  united. 

1.  If  there  is  one  clear,  explicit  obligation  resting  upon  the 
Church  to-day  it  is  to  give  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.  A  large 
number  of  young  people,  especially  those  in  colleges  and  institutions 
of  higher  learning,  representing  every  evangelical  denomination  in 
the  country,  have  adopted  as  a  watchword  expressive  of  their  mis- 
sionary desire  and  duty  the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this 
generation.  By  which  they  mean  that  every  man  living  ought  to 
have  the  opportunity  to  know  Jesus  Christ  as  his  Saviour  and  Lord, 
and  that  the  Church  is  responsible  for  giving  him  that  opportunity. 
Nothing  more,  in  fact,  than  Jesus  Himself  had  in  mind  when  He 
gave  the  sovereign  command:  "Go  ye,  and  make  disciples  of  all 
nations."  This  is  not  an  impossible  task  when  you  think  of  the 
open  doors,  and  the  appeals  which  are  ringing  in  our  ears  for  more 
laborers ;  when  you  think  of  the  vast  resources  of  the  Church,  and 
that  the  cost  of  such  an  enterprise  would  never  be  felt;  above  all, 
when  you  think  of  the  divine  equipment,  the  Gospel,  the  wisdom 
and  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  able  to 
shake  whole  communities  with  Pentecostal  upheaval,  as  in  Wales 
and  the  Punjab  to-day.  In  other  words,  there  is  available  what  the 
world  most  needs,  and  what  the  Church  agrees  upon  as  being  es- 
sential to  salvation.  There  is  available  that  irresistible  force,  prayer, 
in  which  all  Churches  can  unite,  and  if,  as  we  look  upon  the  waiting 
harvests,  we  should  unite  our  petitions  to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
the  whole  Church  intent  upon  a  universal  ingathering  as  the  su- 
preme thing  to  be  desired,  I,  for  one,  believe  that  prayer  would  be 
heard.  Chrysostom  once  said :  "God  can  refuse  nothing  to  a  pray- 
ing congregation,"  which  is  the  same  thing  as  saying  that  a  united 
Church  filled  with  the  spirit  of  God  is  omnipotent. 

But  in  addition  to  this,  there  must  be,  in  order  to  speedy  evan- 
gelization, the  distribution  of  force  most  advantageously,  which  will 
require  such  an  occupation  of  the  field  as  avoids  overlapping  or 
overcrowding;  such  economic  use  of  hospitals,  presses,  literature 


MISSIONARY    ACTIVITY  579 

and  institutions  of  higher  learning  as  will  prevent  reduplication 
and  extravagant  waste.  In  other  words,  that  very  unity  which  our 
missionaries  are  pleading  for,  and  which  they  ought  to  have  for  the 
sake  of  the  work;  that  the  world  may  believe;  believe,  not  because 
they  behold  a  dead  uniformity  wherein  liberty  and  love  of  the  truth 
have  been  killed,  but  a  unity  which  evinces  a  oneness  of  believers, 
because  of  their  oneness  in  Christ  and  membership  of  the  same  body. 
Principal  Cairns,  of  Scotland,  said  before  he  died:  "We  are  en- 
gaged in  a  great  conflict  in  whicK,  if  we  all  unite,  there  will  be  a 
great  victory."  And  the  veteran  missionary  of  India,  Dr.  Jacob 
Chamberlain,  made  this  appeal  several  years  ago :  "Fellow  soldiers 
of  Christ's  army  of  conquest,  the  time  for  skirmishing,  for  iso- 
lated fighting,  for  sending  disconnected  squads  of  soldiers  into  the 
same  fields,  independently  to  do  the  same  thing,  has  passed  away. 
The  time  for  locking  arms,  and  shoulder  to  shoulder  pressing  to  the 
final  conquest  has  come.  Happy  are  we,  if  we  have  part  in  its  in- 
auguration.'"' 

A  few  years  ago,  while  in  London,  I  crossed  the  Eiver  Thames 
twice  each  day.  In  the  morning,  I  noticed  that  the  river  was  run- 
ning very  low.  Large  craft,  heavily  laden,  were  stranded  high  and 
dry.  Smaller  vessels  were  stuck  fast  in  the  mud,  while  in  the  nar- 
row, shallow  stream  a  few  more  zealous  boats  were  almost  fighting 
for  the  right  of  way.  But  when  I  passed  over  the  same  bridge  in 
the  afternoon,  the  whole  scene  had  changed.  Boate  of  every  size 
and  description,  carrying  their  valuable  freight,  were  gliding  along 
side  by  side,  and  were  being  carried  to  their  destination,  and  there 
was  no  conflict,  no  confusion.  You  know  the  explanation.  The 
tide  had  come  in.  And  what  we  need  now  is  such  a  tidal  wave  of 
spiritual  power  and  missionary  fervor  as  will  cover  up  the  rocks 
which  raise  an  angry  surf  when  the  water  is  low;  as  will  cause 
dividing  shoals  to  disappear;  as  will  lift  up  Churches  of  whatever 
name  from  their  low  estate,  sever  them  from  their  moorings  of  self- 
ishness and  worldly  ease,  and  carry  them  out  like  one  great  fleet 
under  the  same  banner  and  the  same  commander,  all  sailing  on  to 
extend  His  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  unto  the 
ends  of  the  earth. 


WORLD  CONQUEST 


The  Rev.  Charles  Cuthbert  Hall,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


Mr.  Chairman,  Fathers  and  Brethren: 

I  regret  with  you  the  absence  of  the  Eev.  Dr.  Stires,  upon  whose 
address  I  had  very  largely  depended  as  a  fitting  inspiration  for 
my  own  soul.  If  I  take  his  time  it  is  only  that  I  may  leave  mine 
for  him  in  the  hope  that  a  kindly  providence  may  yet  bring  him 
here  to  address  this  Conference. 

The  subject  of  "World  Conquest"  has  been  assigned  to  me.  It 
is  manifest  that  this  subject,  under  the  present  circumstances, 
can  be  discussed  only  in  principle  and  that  no  opportunity  exists 
in  this  brief  space  to  point  out  the  advances  that  are  being  made 
on  every  side  in  conquering  the  world  for  God. 

The  title  "World  Conquest"  is  a  splendid  title,  ana  yet,  unless 
we  have  our  lives  very  powerfully  restrained  by  the  Spirit  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  this  title  of  "World  Conquest"  may  be  made 
a  misleading  title.  For,  as  a  figure  of  speech,  it  suggests  to  the 
mind  the  progress  of  an  invading  army,  with  sharply  defined  files, 
with  regimental  banners  flying,  passing  into  an  enemy's  country 
and  there  laying  down  terms  of  submission  to  a  foreign  authority. 
To  permit  ourselves  unrestrainedly  to  indulge  this  view  of  tlie 
subject  would  be  to  reproduce  the  mistakes,  the  bitter  mistakes, 
that  many  Western  nations  and  Churches  have  been  making  before 
our  time.  It  is  necessary  that  we  be  restrained  in  our  thought  of 
world  conquest  and  of  its  method  by  recollection  of  and  submission 
to  the  Spirit  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ 
will  guide  us  in  this  thought  in  proportion  to  our  faith  in  Him- 
self and  what  He  is  to  us.  For  one,  speaking  for  myself,  as  I  am 
sure  I  speak  for  my  brethren  here  this  morning,  Jesus  Christ  is 
to  me  the  very  manifestation  of  the  Godhead,  the  eternal  preex- 
istent  Son  in  the  Godhead,'  who  for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation, 
begotten  of  His  Father  before  all  worlds,  God  of  God,  Light  of 
Light,  very  God  of  very  God,  came  down  from  heaven  to  reconcile 
the  world  unto  God  by  the  blood  of  His  Cross. 

With  such  a  view  of  Jesus  Christ  shared  by  us  all,  it  is  mani- 
fest that  Christ's  conception  of  world  conquest  and  of  its  method 
is  the  only  conception  that  can  have  authority  for  us.     As  one 


WORLD  CONQUEST  581 

thinlfs  of  Christ  and  of  His  way  of  bringing  the  world  to  God,  one 
sees  certain  things  very  distinctly,  or  seems  to  see  them,  in  His 
spirit  and  point  of  view. 

First  of  all,  one  sees  in  the  spirit  and  point  of  view  of  the  Son 
of  God,  in  His  conquering  of  the  world,  an  attitude  and  temper 
toward  those  not  wholly  in  sympathy  with  Himself  that  is  at 
once  trustful  and  inclusive.  How  sweet  and  how  touching  are  the 
illustrations  of  this  temper  of  the  Son  of  God  as  we  reflect  upon 
them.  There  is  His  attitude  toward  the  young,  the  feeble,  the 
undeveloped.  It  was  supposed  that  the  bringing  of  the  children 
to  Him  would  be  an  intrusion,  but  He  said,  "Suffer  little  children, 
and  forbid  them  not  to  come  unto  Me."  There  is  His  attitude 
toward  the  socially  ostracized,  those  from  whom  the  world  of  virtue 
turned  away.  Behold  Him  as  He  speaks  to  the  woman  of  the  city, 
who  was  a  sinner.  See  His  recognition  of  the  spirit  in  which  she 
pressed  toward  Him.  Behold  His  attitude  toward  the  woman  of 
Samaria  and  the  interest  with  which  He  poured  out  His  thouglit 
on  behalf  of  one  from  whom  the  Judaism  of  His  time  turned  away. 
Behold  His  attitude  toward  those  uninstructed  ones  who  dimly  and 
almost  imconsciously  placed  their  faith  in  Him:  the  woman  that 
was  a  Greek,  the  woman  of  Syro-Phoenicia,  who,  speaking  in  an 
unstudied  and  uninstructed  way,  won  from  Him  recognition  of 
a  faith  that  was  not  yet  suflSciently  developed  and  formulated  to 
be  classified  in  the  categories  of  accepted  belief.  Behold  His  atti- 
tude toward  the  teachers  that  were  attempting  to  do  work  in  His 
name,  yet  were  not  able  to  come  into  full  sympathy  with  His 
disciples.  It  was  the  spiritual  John  who  said  to  his  Master,  "We 
saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  Thy  name,  and  we  forbade  him 
because  he  followeth  not  with  us" ;  and  the  answer  of  the  Saviour 
v.as :  "Forbid  him  not ;  for  he  that  is  not  against  you  is  for  you" ; 
and,  as  if  the  spiritual  John  was  slow  to  learn  that  great  lesson, 
almost  immediately  after  occurred  the  incident  of  the  Samaritan 
village,  where  Christ  was  repudiated  by  those  at  whose  hands 
ITe  sought  hospitality.  John  and  his  strong-spirited  brother  said, 
^'Master,  shall  we  call  down  fire  upon  them  and  destroy  them?" 
His  answer  was :  "Ye  know  not  of  what  spirit  ye  are,  for  the  Son 
of  Man  is  come  not  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save  them."  Such 
was  the  attitude  of  our  blessed  Master,  the  Image  of  the  Invisible 
God,  the  Brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  the  express  Image  of 
His  substance,  toward  those  who  were  not  within  the  inner  circle 
of  the  faith. 


582  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

Behold  Him  in  His  attitude  toward  the  teaching  messengers. 
He  gathers  them  around  Him.  He  lays  His  ordaining  hand  in 
blessing  upon  them.  He  says:  "Behold,  I  send  you  forth.  Go 
ye  into  all  the  world;  make  disciples."  It  is  the  ordination  of  the 
teaching  messenger,  not  the  giving  of  the  sword  of  conquest,  but 
the  ordination  of  the  teaching  messenger.  What  is  to  be  their 
message?  It  is  to  be  the  essence  of  the  religion  of  which  He  is 
the  Divine  incarnation;  it  is  to  be  the  anointing  of  knowledge  and 
power  whereby  all  the  minds  of  men  shall  at  last  be  led  into  the 
vision  of  the  Godhead,  baptising  them  into  the  name  of  the  Father 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  behold  Him,  last  of 
all,  in  this :  His  declaration  is  not  that  this  army  of  the  teaching 
messengers  whom  He  sends  out  for  the  conquering  of  the  world 
shall  do  the  ultimate  work.  The  teaching  messenger  is  not  the 
final  fact  in  the  conquest  of  the  world.  It  is  the  living,  risen 
Christ  Himself.  "I  am  with  you  alway.  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up, 
will  draw  all  men  unto  myself." 

This  is  the  thing  that  has  authority  for  us  this  morning  as 
we  speak  together  of  this  mighty  theme  of  world  conquest.  Here 
are  the  three  messages  that  the  Blessed  Saviour  gives  us  this 
morning,  to  guide  us  in  our  thinking  on  this  line  of  our  duty, 
in  drawing  the  world  to  God. 

There  is  His  trustful  and  inclusive  attitude  toward  those  who 
are  not  as  yet  within  the  inner  circle  of  the  faith.  All  over  the 
world  to-day,  as  anyone  knows  who  has  made  a  study  of  the  facts, 
the  seed  of  the  Gospel  planted  here  and  there  long  ago  is  springing 
up,  not  only  in  those  direct  results  which  are  incorporated  now 
into  Christian  congregations  and  recognized  as  Christian  Churches, 
but  in  indirect  and  semi-developed  results  which  are  appearing  in 
all  kinds  of  struggling  and  often  pathetic  and  yet  ever  noble  move- 
ments within  the  great  fields  of  the  Eastern  world,  to  attain  a 
more  spiritual  self-realization.  In  Mohammedanism,  in  Hinduism, 
in  Buddhism,  wherever  you  look  you  see  these  indirect  and  semi- 
developed  results  of  the  great  Christian  message  taking  the  form 
of  struggling  and  untutored  and  unformulated  aspirations  toward 
that  nobler  and  more  spiritual  thing,  which  I  believe  God  recog- 
nizes as  the  outgoing  of  the  soul  of  humanity  toward  Himself,  in 
whom  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being.  Who  hath  made  of 
one  blood  all  nations  of  men,  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  of  all  of  whom  it  may  be  said,  as  St.  Paul  said  of 
the  Greeks,  "We  also  are  His  offspring."    Toward  all  these  strug- 


WORLD  COXQVEST  583 

gling,  half  developed,  pathetic  and  yet  most  glorious  exhibitions  of 
yearning  in  the  non-Christianized  world  for  a  higher  and  a  clearer 
conception  of  God  we  must  extend  the  gentle,  trustful,  inclusive 
spirit,  in  order  that,  under  the  guidance  and  growing  power  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  these  also  may  come  at  last  to  the  fruition  of  an 
enlightened  faith. 

And  again,  with  regard  to  the  teaching  messengers.  He  sends 
them  forth  not  as  the  representatives  of  sects.  For  Him  there 
were  no  sects,  so  far  as  anything  in  His  Word  goes  to  inform  us. 
By  Him  there  was  no  provision  made  for  this  later  development 
of  the  Christian  society  along  its  many  sectarian  lines.  There- 
fore, as  we  advance  into  this  great  and  Christlike  mission  of  the 
teacher,  the  teacher  of  truth,  the  sect  that  we  represent  must  be 
in  the  background,  and  the  Christ  whose  messengers  we  are  must  be 
in  the  foreground.  If  this  is  not  our  conviction,  we  are  shut  up 
to  one  of  two  alternatives:  either  it  is  left  to  us  individually  to 
claim  that  the  fulness  of  the  truth  is  in  our  sect,  and  that  the 
ideal  that  we  have  in  view  as  representing  our  sect  on  the  foreign 
field  is  that  ultimately  that  sect  may  become  victorious  in  the 
conquest  of  the  world,  which  is,  of  course,  an  impossible  idea,  held 
by  no  one  here,  or  else  that  Christ  is  divided,  an  equally  impossible 
and  unthinkable  idea.  Therefore,  we  go  out  as  His  teaching  mes- 
sengers not  necessarily  ignoring  sect  with  its  nobler  traditions — 
for  I  should  be  the  last  to  disparage  the  nobler  sectarian  traditions 
or  to  depreciate  their  value  in  organization  and  the  forwarding  of 
the  great  business  of  the  Church — ^but  we  are  to  go  out  with  sect 
held  in  subjection,  placed  in  the  background,  and  with  all  our 
energies  centred  upon  the  single  idea  of  interpreting  by  the  help 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  this  super-important  essence  of  the  truth,  the 
truth  of  the  blessed  Godhead,  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  God 
the  Holy  Ghost,  baptizing  men  into  the  name  of  the  Father  and 
of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost — this  great  interpretation, 
which  is  God's  answer  to  the  yearning  and  struggling  of  the  whole 
world  after  Him. 

And  then,  last  of  all,  there  is  not  only  this  gentle  and  inclusive 
spirit  toward  those  who  are  not  yet  within  the  inner  circle,  and 
there  is  not  only  this  noble  conception  of  the  teaching  messenger 
as  the  apostle  of  the  essence  rather  than  the  apostle  of  the  sect, 
but  in  all  and  above  all  is  the  everlasting  and  vivid  remembrance 
that  the  Church  as  we  know  it,  organized  in  the  Western  world 
and  developing  along  Western  lines,  is  not  the  thing  that  shall 


5}^  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

couquer.  There  is  One  only  that  shall  conquer:  it  is  the  crucified, 
risen,  living  Lord.  "I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and 
the  ending,  the  first  and  the  last." 

If  we  believe  this  of  Him — and  I  believe  it  with  the  deepest 
depth  of  my  power  to  believe — ^if  we  believe  this  thing,  then  a 
right  mental  attitude  comes  to  us  regarding  this  great  matter  of 
the  conquest  of  the  world.  The  conquest  of  the  world  then  does 
not  mean  the  practical  occupation  of  the  East  by  the  Churches  of 
the  West.  It  does  not  mean  that.  It  means  a  greater  thing  than 
that.  It  means  that  the  Churches  of  the  West,  fulfiling  their 
mission  as  the  teaching  messengers  of  the  ever  blessed  Son  of 
God,  shall  at  last  bring  about  conditions  where  in  the  fulness  of 
the  time  Christ  Himself  shall  be  seen,  as  the  Mediator  of  the 
East  and  of  the  West,  the  one  Mediator  between  God  and  man, 
the  Light  of  the  world,  the  Head  of  that  Universal  Church. 

In  this  Universal  Church  the  West,  true  to  its  own  tempera- 
mental and  historical  conditions,  shall  express  the  essence  of 
Christianity  after  its  own  terms;  and  the  East,  the  meditative, 
mystical  East,  true  to  its  own  thinking  and  its  own  venerable  tra- 
ditions, shall  at  last  express,  interpret  and  exhibit  after  the  man- 
ner of  its  own  thinking  the  same  eternal  essence.  It  is  written 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  I  think,  concerning  those  just  ones 
that  lived  before  Christ,  "that  they  without  us  should  not  be  made 
perfect."  We  may  take  the  same  great  words  and  apply  them  to 
this  absorbing  theme  that  is  now  before  us,  the  conquest  of  the 
world,  which  is  the  reconciliation  of  the  world  to  God  in  Christ 
Jesus.  The  West  has  its  own  mighty  values  in  the  interpretation 
and  expression  of  that  eternal  essence  of  the  truth;  the  East,  as 
time  goes  on,  shall  more  and  more  reveal  that  it  has  its  own  specific 
and  great  values  in  the  interpretation  of  the  eternal  essence.  Each 
is  necessary  to  the  other,  East  to  West,  West  to  East,  that  they 
without  us  should  not  be  made  perfect,  that  we  without  them 
should  not  arrive  at  the  full-orbed  interpretation  of  the  Gospel, 
which  is  neither  for  West  nor  for  East  Init  for  the  one  indivisible 
world  and  race  of  man  for  whom  the  preexistent  Son  became  in- 
carnate, and  unto  whose  redemption  the  Holy  One  of  God  gave 
Himself  in  atoning  sacrifice  upon  the  Cross  of  Calvary. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  THE  TRANSCEND- 
ENT AIM  OF  A  UNITED  CHURCH 


THE    IDEAL    STATE 


The   Rev.  Bishop  E.  R.  Hendrix,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Brethren: 

I  count  it  a  happy  fact  that  in  the  consideration  of  this  im- 
portant subject  you  have  ventured  to  select  a  representative 
coming  from  one  of  the  great  Southern  States  which  compose 
our  Federated  Union.  Forty  years  ago  you  would  have  hesitated 
to  do  that  by  virtue  of  divergence  of  opinion.  Thank  God  to-day 
a  common  cause  is  upheld  by  all  of  us  and  one  flag  waves  over 
our  united  country. 

I  count  it  another  happy  event  that  we  stand  together  not 
only  as  a  Federated  Nation  of  States,  but  as  a  Federated  Union 
of  Churches,  and  that  we  recognize  but  one  foundation — Jesus 
Christ,  our  Lord.  Jesus  Christ  is  the  central  fact,  the  crowning 
proof  and  the  undiminishing  glory  of  our  holy  religion,  and  His 
bride  enters  no  place  where  her  Lord  is  not  welcome.  We  do  not 
divide  His  humanity  from  His  divinity,  but  our  divine  Lord  as 
well  as  our  human  Lord  we  recognize  as  our  leader,  and  "in  this 
sign  we  conquer.'' 

(With  these  introductory  words  Bishop  Hendrix  then  proceeded 
to  read  his  address.) 

The  State  is  the  most  complete,  as  it  is  the  most  universal,  of 
all  the  societies  of  men.  It  is  so  necessary  to  men  that  they 
consent  that  it  direct  or  even  resume  their  possessions  to  pre- 
serve its  existence,  and  that  it  have  the  power  of  life  and  death 
over  their  persons  to  maintain  good  government  or  national  terri- 
tory. The  State  alone  has  sovereign  power.  It  does  not  exist 
for  the  Church,  but  the  Church  exists  for  the  State,  to  maintain 
that  righteousness  that  exalteth  a  nation.  As  the  Kingdom  of 
God  is  larger  than  the  Church,  and  the  work  of  the  Church  is  to 
extend  that  kingdom,  so,  too,  the  State,  which  needs  the  Church, 
not  as  an  establishment,  but  as  a  vitalizing  force,  exists  for 
humanity,  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  among  men.  The  petition, 
"Thy  kingdom  come,"  is  interpreted  by  the  prayer  that  follows: 
"Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven."  This  is  the  ideal 
State  for  which  we  pray  and  wait.  Is  it  a  mere  iridescent  dream? 
That  depends  on  the  character  of  its  legislation  and  its  citizenship. 
587 


588  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

Woolsey,  in  his  "Introduction  to  International  Law,"  well 
defined  the  State  "as  a  community  of  persons  living  within  cer- 
tain limits  of  territory,  under  a  permanent  organization,  which 
aims  to  secure  the  prevalence  of  justice  by  self-imposed  law." 
The  ideal  State  is  not  a  theocracy  in  the  sense  of  a  government  by 
priests,  whether  Papal  or  Protestant,  but  in  the  sense  of  a  recogni- 
tion of  divine  righteousness  in  all  the  relations  of  life.  The  very 
Kingdom  of  God  is  tested  by  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  human  relations.  Its  existence  appears  in  a  principle  of  spir- 
itual life  that  is  the  harmonizing  and  saving  principle  of  human 
society.  The  Magna  Charta  of  every  nation  was  given  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which  Burke  pronounced  "the  most  im- 
pressive political  document  on  the  rights  of  man."  While 
Christianity  has  discovered  the  individual  it  was  in  order  to  the 
well-being  and  on-going  of  the  nation.  As  in  Heaven  so  in  earth 
the  highest  well-being  of  every  creature  is  in  seeking  first  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness.  His  will  is  what  tests 
alike  the  justice  and  value  of  the  laws  which  men  make  for  them- 
selves. The  ideal  State,  if  it  exists,  must  be  after  the  pattern 
shown  above. 

"I  go  to  a  world  of  order,"  said  the  dying  Hooker,  to  whom,  in 
his  wisest  thinking,  "law,  eternal  law,  was  that  order  which  God 
before  all  ages  hath  set  down  with  Himself,  for  Himself,  to  do 
all  things  by."  That  eternal  law  of  love,  like  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation, is  not  two  laws,  one  for  the  heavens  and  the  other  for 
the  earth,  but  one,  binding  together  the  heavens  and  the  earth. 
Every  true  prayer  looks  to  perfect  government  on  earth  as  in 
Heaven. 

The  form  of  government  is  not  at  all  essential,  whether  we 
be  called  "subjects"  or  "citizens,"  whether  the  rule  be  that  of  a 
strong  prince  by  the  will  of  the  people  or  whether  it  be  a  govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  people  and  for  the  people.  The  shape 
of  the  loaves  is  of  small  account,  so  that  they  all  be  leavened. 
The  law  of  God  is  not  tied  to  any  system  of  government,  whether 
Hebrew  commonwealth  with  its  passion  for  righteousness,  the 
British  Empire  with  its  exalted  standard  of  justice,  or  the  Amer- 
ican Republic  with  its  love  of  liberty,  since  the  old  Liberty  Bell 
heralded  with  iron  tongue  its  sacred  verse,  "Proclairii  liberty 
throughout  the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof."  The  king- 
doms of  this  world  and  their  rulers  seem  matters  of  little  moment 


TEE  IDEAL  STATE  589 

compared  with  the  kingdom  of  the  world.  Satan  freely  offered 
the  kingdom  of  the  world  to  our  Lord  if  he  might  only  retain 
the  suzerain  power.  In  the  final  overthrow  of  the  power  of  evil 
it  matters  little  whether  they  be  principalities  or  municipalties 
that  are  subdued,  only  so  that  Christ  be  all  in  all  as  the  kingdom 
of  th€  world  becomes  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  His 
Christ.  The  kingdom  that  endureth  forever  cometh  not  vriih 
observation,  with  the  majesty  and  trappings  of  temporal  power 
so  dependent  on  things  visible.  Not  being  based  on  things  visible 
it  has  no  fear  of  things  visible,  for  God  has  not  given  us  the  spirit 
of  fearfulness  but  of  love,  and  of  power  and  of  a  sound  mind. 
The  nation  is  the  truest  and  last  development  of  the  Church.  The 
Church  that  cannot  make  nations  has  little  part  in  the  coming  of 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you.  "So,"  responds  Maurice, 
"is  the  kingdom  of  England;"  and  so  the  Republic  of  America. 
Unless  it  be  within  as  a  matter  of  deepest  conviction  and  of 
personal  loyalty  to  what  it  stands  for  it  is  shadow,  not  substance. 
It  is  not  "ribs  of  oak"  but  patriots  with  hearts  of  steel  that  make 
Trafalgars.  No  nation  forgets  God  and  finds  His  judgment  seat 
and  sentence  of  doom  until  its  citizens  have  first  forgotten  Him. 
Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,  while  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any 
people.  Rights  exist  before  the  State.  The  State  does  not 
create  them,  but  exists  to  protect  them.  A  nation  is  a  spiritual 
fact,  even  more  than  a  physical  fact.  It  is  in  the  will  of  the 
people  that  the  unity  of  the  nation  really  lies.  An  honest  effort 
to  approximate  the  standards  of  settled,  eternal  and  revealed  prin- 
ciples of  order  and  righteousness  is  the  guarantee  of  personal 
liberty  and  security  of  one's  rights.  Unless  the  individual  is  self- 
respecting  and  considerate  of  the  rights  of  others  he  cannot  serve 
the  State  or  become  a  useful  member  of  it.  On  the  beautiful 
Greek  temple  that  serves  as  the  monument  of  Juarez  are  chis- 
elled his  own  great  words:  "Due  respect  for  the  rights  of  otiiers 
is  the  basis  of  all  just  peace."  Men  bound  together  by  senti- 
ments so  lofty  not  only  help  to  make  a  nation,  they  are  the  nation. 
Only  nations  thus  made  are  fit  for  the  great  commonwealth  of 
nations  ruled  by  international  law. 

Only  they  despair  of  the  ideal  State  who  despair  of  the  ideal 
man  for  the  State.  Our  despair  is  due  to  the  perseverance  of 
sinners.     We  must  believe  more  in  the  perseverance  of  saints. 


590  '      CHURCH  FEDERATION 

We  must  practise  more  the  commimion  of  saints  that  the  saiiits 
may  have  heart  to  persevere.  Our  Lord  is  not  the  Saviour  from 
the  world,  as  if  our  only  hope  was  in  utter  separation  from  it. 
He  is  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  despite  all  the  efforts  to  keep 
the  world  unsaved.  And  He  is  to  save  it  by  and  with  the  co- 
operation of  men,  saving  us  just  so  far  as  He  can  use  us  in 
saving  others.  Kossuth  warned  our  country  of  its  greatest  peril, 
which  was  "devotion  to  private  interests  at  the  expense  of  our 
duty  to  the  State."  It  is  not  the  men  on  the  firing  line  who 
despair;  it  is  the  men  'TDchind  the  guns,"  so  far  behind  the  guns 
that  they  never  know  the  sense  of  comradeship  in  fighting  a 
national  foe  and  destroying  a  national  peril.  The  true  citizens 
are  men  who  guard  their  country's  name  as  they  would  their  own, 
men  who  do  not  talk  less  of  rights  but  more  of  duties.  These  are 
the  men  of  vision,  living  indeed  before  their  times,  living  for  us 
since  they  without  us  cannot  be  made  perfect  in  the  realization  of 
their  lofty  ideals.  These  are  they  who,  like  Varro,  never  despair 
of  the  Eepublic,  and  who  make  both  it  and  them  immortal. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  world's  First  Citizen.  In  His  desire  that  He 
might  fulfil  all  righteousness  He  cheerfully  met  every  obligation. 
He  taught  men  by  His  example  to  render  unto  Caesar  the  things 
that  are  Caesar's,  while  they  rendered  unto  God  the  things  that 
are  God's.  He  bade  Peter  put  up  his  sword  and  taught  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  violence,  but  by  the  slower 
process  of  civic  intelligence  and  enlightened,  self-interrogating 
consciences.  Eegarding  the  four  great  rights  of  men — the  right 
of  life,  of  property,  of  family  purity  and  of  a  good  name,  rights 
that  the  State  does  not  create,  but  can  only  safeguard  and  protect 
— Christ's  teachings  interpret  and  sanctify  them  in  all  lands  where 
the  Ten  Commandments  are  known  and  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  is  read.  The  watchwords  of  His  kingdom  are  Peace  and 
Progress.  His  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  in  the  sense  that  it 
adopts  worldly  maxims  and  methods,  but  never  has  there  been 
anything  "so  on  all  fours  with  humanity."  He  saves  the  State 
from  its  publicans  by  first  saving  the  publican,  and  takes  with 
Him  into  paradise  one  from  the  lapsed  masses  who  earnestly 
craves  a  place  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  He  puts  the  spirit  of  Christ 
into  the  citizen,  and  so  into  the  State,  and  so  into  the  race,  for 
"the  spirit  of  Christ  is  the  primary  assumption  of  international 
law,  the  spirit  which  seeks  to  bind  the  nations  together,  not  by 


THE  IDEAL  STATE  591 

force,  but  by  just  relations  of  amity."   Service  and  sacrifice,  the 
law  of  the  individual  becomes  the  law  of  the  citizen.  Moral  and 
religious  questions  most  easily  enlist  the  sympathy  of  the  masses 
even  in  political  matters  as  the  result  of  Christ's  example  and 
teaching.    His  influence  helps  them  to  contend  earnestly  for  the 
faith  of  the  fathers  in  religious  and  civil  liberty,  knowing  that  no 
men  ever  successfully  obtained  and  maintained  their  liberties 
who  did  not  believe  in  the  God  of  right.  Nothing  is  so  mighty  as 
an  aroused  nation  possessed  of  the  spirit  of  Christ,  as  they  con- 
tend for  the  right.    The  God  of  battles  fights  for  them.  Alas !  that 
they  do  not  always  fight  long  enough  for  the  complete  victory. 
God  never  stops  giving  until  men  stop  praying.    The  failure  of 
great  civic  reforms  is  found  in  that  men  weary  in  well  doing,  and 
then  the  Philistines  return  from  their  caves  and  dens  to  boast 
of  victory.    Men  forget  that  the  power  of  evU  is  finite,  but  the 
power  of  good  is  infinite.   '*For  from  of  old  men  have  not  heard, 
nor  perceived  by  the  ear,  neither  hath  the  eye  seen  a  God  beside 
thee,  which  worketh  for  him  that  waiteth  for  Him."  Isaiah,  64 :4. 
God  never  gave  man  dominion  until  He  had  made  him  in  His 
own  likeness.    Loss  of  that  likeness  has  ever  meant  loss  of  do- 
minion alike  over  himself  and  his  kind,  as  well  as  the  world  about 
him.    Knowledge  of  nature  and  mastery  of  nature  as  the  an- 
nounced programme  of  a  life  is  a  far  less  noble  aim  than  the 
knowledge  of  and  mastery  of  men,  including  one's  self.   The  aim 
of  Greece  was  versatility,  the  ambition  of  the  Eoman  was  im- 
perial power,  the  hope  of  Israel  was  righteousness  that  as  a  prince 
he  might  prevail  with  God,  and  so  prevail  with  men.    Abraham 
not  only  became,  as  promised,  a  father  of  nations,  but  how  many 
a  son  of  Abraham,  as  Moses,  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  became  a 
prophet  to  the  nations !    They  thought  in  nations,  and  have  set  a 
standard  of  what  is  sublime  in  thought  and  speech  above  any 
other  leaders  of  men.    Their  strong  words  are  messages  to  na- 
tions for  all  time.  They  gave  men  the  true  conception  of  the  ideal 
State  as  a  national  community,  knit  together  in  all  its  relations 
by  righteousness  and  love,  and  caring  especially  for  its  weaker 
members.  No  nation  of  antiquity  approached  the  Hebrew  nation 
in  its  demands  that  its  rulers  obey  the  laws  if  they  would  have 
them  obeyed  by  others,  and  that  the  poor  should  not  be  oppressed. 
If  much  attention  is  given  to  genealogical  tables  it  must  be  known 
that  they  were  the  only  people  perfect  in  their  generations,  and 


592  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

SO  able  to  have  family  trees  without  bastards  in  every  branok  The 
consciousness  of  God  as  a  power  of  righteousness  made  what  was 
good  in  Jewish  development,  and  which  has  been  shared  by  the 
world.  The  true  blessing  of  Jacob  was  his  power  to  bless  others, 
due  to  what  he  himself  had  received.  It  was  a  company  of  men 
taught  these  great  principles  of  righteousness  who  were  sent  out 
as  prophets  to  the  nations  to  disciple  all  nations.  It  is  to  such 
teaching  that  the  spirit  of  reality  has  been  inspired  in  all  human 
relations.  It  is  not  geology  or  natural  history  that  interests  men 
to-day  so  much  as  sociology.  We  are  now  most  concerned  to  know 
men,  to  help  and  influence  men.  The  very  stability  of  free  gov- 
ernment is  bound  up  in  that  knowledge.  Even  despotic  Nero  cried : 
"What  a  monster  is  empire!"  Without  such  knowledge  we  may 
cry,  "What  a  monster  is  repubhc!"  The  best  possible  nation 
awaits  the  best  possible  individual.  If  the  individual  citizen  is  not 
safe  until  the  influence  of  the  State  is  favorable  to  righteousness, 
neither  is  the  State  safe  until  the  individual  has  that  passion  for 
righteousness  enjoined  by  the  apostle,  even  in  Nero's  time. 
"Honor  all  men.  Love  the  brotherhood.  Fear  God.  Honor  the 
king."  Augustine  was  right  when,  in  his  "City  of  God,"  he  replies 
to  those  who  claimed  that  Christianity  had  destroyed  the  Koman 
Empire  by  saying  that  the  city  of  men  was  built  on  self-aggran- 
dizement, while  the  basis  of  the  abiding  city  was  the  love  of  God. 
It  all  depends  on  whether  Cain  or  Seth  found  the  city,  and  as  to 
what  manner  of  spirit  rules  in  it  in  determining  its  worthiness 
to  live. 

Our  Lord  distinctly  taught  a  universal  kingdom,  universal 
l^ecause  of  meeting  the  deepest  needs  of  men  and  leavening  all 
States  until  they  should  make  a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness.  He  said  but  little  as  to  what  lay  between  the  rudi- 
mentary organization  for  the  spread  of  His  teachings  and  that 
goal.  Form  matters  little  to  God,  who  fulfils  Himself  in  many 
ways,  lest  one  good  custom  should  corrupt  the  world.  Nations, 
like  individuals,  who  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness,  find  that  all  things  shall  be  added  unto  them. 
Everywhere,  and  in  all  times,  the  earnest  expectation  of  the  crea- 
tion waiteth  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God.  The  reno- 
vation of  the  world  foirms  as  conspicuous  a  theme  of  the  prophetic 
and  of  the  apostolic  Gospel  as  does  the  renovation  of  the  indi- 
vidual. While  self -protection  and  perpetuity  are  paramount  duties 


THE  IDEAL  STATE  593 

of  the  State,  the  individual  makes  the  State  as  he  thinks  not  less 
of  his  rights,  but  more  of  his  duties. 

If  it  be  asked.  Where  is  the  ideal  State?  it  must  be  frankly 
admitted  that  Christianity  and  Christendom  are  not  one.  Things 
must  be  judged,  not  by  what  they  are  now  in  the  process  of  be- 
coming, but  when  that  process  is  complete.  "We  are  not  what  we 
ought  to  be ;  we  are  not  what  we  intend  to  be ;  but,  thank  God,  we 
are  not  what  we  were,"  may  be  said  by  States,  no  less  than  by 
saints.  The  tremendous  reformation  wrought  in  European  morals 
to  which  Lecky  calls  attention  has  been  felt  in  every  European 
State.  Vices  once  tolerated  in  rulers  become  less  possible  every 
century.  After  the  pure  life  of  Victoria,  "the  queenliest  of 
women,  the  womanliest  of  queens,"  the  approach  to  the  British 
throne  is  by  an  avenue  of  fire.  We  rejoice  in  every  attempted 
realization  of  the  ideal  State.  Under  Savonarola  Florence  was 
governed  justly  for  four  years,  as  under  similar  righteous  teach- 
ings Geneva  became  for  three  hundred  years  a  city  of  refuge  for 
all  Europe.  John  Knox  may  have  attempted  too  muchi  petty  legis- 
lation for  Scotland,  but  the  hearts  of  good  men  never  cease  to 
thank  God  for  whatever  success  has  attended  the  efforts  to  es- 
tablish social  and  political  relations  on  a  religious  basis.  If  there 
were  at  times  too  little  of  the  gentleness  of  Christ  for  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  ideal  State,  yet  these  were  movements  toward  lofty 
ideals,  and,  as  Bruce  well  says,  "Christ's  phrase  for  the  bad  ideal 
was  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost."  To  leave  out  of  account 
the  help  of  the  spirit  of  God  in  righteous  government  is  to  despair. 
Egypt  tried  the  rule  of  the  priest,  and  so  did  Assyria,  and  Athens, 
and  Rome,  and  Judea.  And  so  does  Islam  attempt  it  to-day.  But 
no  human  arm  has  ever  been  strong  enough  to  wield  a  sceptre  that 
belongs  alone  to  Christ,  and  to  no  one  class  has  that  power  ever 
been  delegated.  The  people  themselves  must  become  the  organ  of 
the  spirit  of  God  as  they  become  kings  and  priests  unto  God. 
When  all  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  God,  then  great  shall  be 
the  peace  of  thy  children.  Then,  and  then  only,  shall  come  the 
Parliament  of  Man,  the  Federation  of  the  World. 

Christ  as  the  great  world-builder  never  looked  upon  the  pres- 
ent world  as  complete.  Nor  did  He  look  to  His  unaided  work  to 
make  it  complete.  Twice  He  rejected  the  crown — once  when 
offered  by  Satan,  and  then  when,  after  the  miracle  of  the  loaves 
and  fishes,  the  people  would  have  taken  Him  by  force  to  make  Him 


594  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

king  who  could  also  be  their  breadwinner.  But  Christ  ever  taught 
that  His  people  must  share  His  throne  with  Him.  Crowned  in- 
deed He  should  be,  but  with  many  crowns  when  those  to  whom  He 
had  given  crowns  would  lay  them  at  His  feet.  They,  too,  as  well 
as  He,  were  the  light  of  the  world.  He  often  forbade  them  to 
speak  of  what  He  had  done,  that  they  might  think  the  more  of 
what  He  could  do.  He  left  the  world  only  after  declaring  that 
greater  works  than  He  had  done  should  they  do  who  were  His 
followers,  as  the  spirit  should  show  them  the  inexhaustible  re- 
sources which  they  had  in  Christ.  As  out  of  the  perfected  and 
glorified  manhood  of  Christ  the  Holy  Spirit  was  given,  so  with  the 
Spirit  Christ  gave  gifts  to  men,  and  His  great  gifts  were  men, 
apostles,  prophets,  pastors,  teachers,  citizens,  all  of  whom  to  be- 
come both  priests  and  kings  unto  God. 

One  of  the  priceless  legacies  which  Christ  left  the  world  was 
faith  in  men.  The  Son  of  Man,  as  he  delighted  to  call  Himself, 
had  faith  in  humanity,  of  which  He  was  the  consummate  flower, 
the  living,  triumphing  head.  Where  most  men  despair  of  the  race 
as  ever  reaching  the  ideal  state,  Christ  even  taught  an  ideal  mu- 
nicipality. Mistrusting  themselves,  they  talked  much  of  the  com- 
ing of  the  King,  but  His  theme  was  the  coming  of  the  kingdom. 
The  very  Gospel  that  He  bade  them  preach  was  "the  Gospel  of 
the  kingdom."  Living  under  the  most  corrupt  government,  they 
eagerly  asked  when  He  would  set  up  His  kingdom,  to  be  told  that 
His  kingdom  was  like  light,  like  salt,  like  leaven  that  needed  to 
be  diffused  and  spread.  The  king  himself  should  be  made  known 
by  his  kingdom.  Because  I  live  ye  shall  live  also,  but  it  is  your 
life  in  me  that  proves  that  I  still  live.  It  is  this  new  faith  in  man 
that  makes  possible  the  ideal  State.  It  will  be  a  household  of  faith. 
It  will  not  be  a  Church,  but  far  more,  it  will  be  a  Christianized 
world,  the  kingdom  of  God  among  men.  The  true  city  of  God  is 
without  a  temple.  It  is  a  churchless  city,  because  it  is  all  temple. 
The  leaven  is  so  diffused  that  there  is  no  separate  place  for  the 
leaven  when  the  whole  is  leavened. 

The  city  that  has  been  the  despair  of  man  is  to  be  the  glory  of 
God.  Our  Lord,  who  knew  what  was  in  man  and  needed  not  that 
any  should  show  Him,  knew  that  His  kingdom  should  be  built  out 
of  His  murderers  and  His  sworn  foes.  From  the  very  ranks  of  His 
enemies  He  was  to  choose  His  captains  of  hundreds  and  His  cap- 
tains of  thousands:    Paul  from  the  vindictive  Pharisees,  Luther 


THE  IDEAL  STATE  595 

from,  the  cloistered  monks,  Wesley  from  the  extremest  of  the  ritu- 
alists, and  many  a  mighty  apostle  of  the  faith  from  the  ranks  of 
skeptics  and  infidels,  as  he  chose  Matthew  from  the  publicans  to 
show  His  sovereign  power.  The  religious  East,  despite  its  gross 
superstitions,  is  yet,  when  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  to 
teach  the  West,  now  too  much  given  to  materialism.  Christ's  sub- 
lime faith  in  men,  trusting  them  as  they  trust  Him,  completes 
the  process  of  salvation.  It  is  not  so  much  organization  as  the 
spirit  of  life  in  Christ  Jesus  that  makes  either  ideal  Church 
or  ideal  State.  The  Jesuits,  with  all  their  wonderful  organiza- 
tion, failed  because  they  lacked  faith  in  men,  teaching  that  human 
life  was  to  be  denaturalized  rather  than  developed.  Thus,  in  Para- 
guay, where  they  made  their  most  successful  experiment,  they 
made  simply  grown-up  children,  and  not  men  whom  they  could 
trust  with  currency  and  commerce,  so  that  when  the  country  was 
opened  up  the  whole  system  melted  away.  To  our  eyes  this  is  a 
weakness  of  certain  European  States,  whose  untrained  population 
become  a  menace  to  our  land,  as  they  mistake  liberty  for  license 
under  our  free  government. 

It  is  our  pride  that  our  national  Capitol  is  the  oldest  building 
in  the  world  to  shelter  a  free  Parliament.  Our  strength  has  not 
been  our  army  or  our  navy,  but  our  enlightened  and  patriotic 
citizenship,  as  we  have  sought  a  tempered  liberty,  inspired  and 
sobered  by  religion  and  morality.  We  believe  that  political  virtue 
is  inseparable  from  pure  religion.  Our  constructive  statesmen 
have  breathed  the  atmosphere  of  faith  in  childhood.  We  believe, 
with  Kidd,  in  his  "Social  Evolution,"  that  "religion  affords  the  only 
permanent  sanction  for  progress."  In  our  "government  by  dis- 
cussion" (for  debate  in  the  true  sense  is  a  modern  institution)  we 
deem  that  it  does  not  avail  to  appeal  to  principles,  like  the  moral- 
ists of  ancient  Rome,  unless  there  is  developed  the  power  of 
morality  in  the  nation  that  loves  virtue  and  not  simply  praises  it. 
We  are  less  concerned  for  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools  than  we 
are  for  the  Bible  in  the  teacher.  Our  concern  is  not  for  the  State 
to  establish  a  religion,  but  for  religion  to  establish  the  State.  Our 
thoughts  go  beyond  the  family,  the  institute  of  the  affections,  and 
even  beyond  the  State,  the  institute  of  rights,  to  mankind,  the  in- 
stitute of  humanity.  Only  thus  can  Western  civilization  lead  the 
world,  as  it  confessedly  does  to-day.  Islam  consecrated  despotism, 
polygamy,  slavery.  Christianity  consecrates  toleration,  purity,  lib- 


596  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

erty,  until  the  penal  sanctions  of  the  law  of  right  are  found  in 
the  public  eye,  in  the  public  conscience,  trained  to  give  and  to 
demand  what  is  right  under  the  law  of  God.  Let  men  deride  re- 
ligion as  they  may,  yet  when  Philadelphia  needs  a  Mayor  who  can 
break  the  power  of  chronic  misrule  and  corruption  in  her  munici- 
pal council,  and  St.  Louis  needs  a  prosecuting  attorney  and  Mis- 
souri a  Governor  who  can  expose  and  abolish  graft  and  success- 
fully enforce  the  laws  on  the  statute  books  agaiust  a  profaned  and 
debauched  Sabbath,  they  find  them  in  Christian  men,  trained  ia 
church  work  to  a  sense  of  responsibility.  All  honor  to  any  Church 
that  contributes  two  such  men  to  help  make  the  ideal  State! 
What  we  need  in  our  country  is  not  an  established  Church,  but  an 
established  State.  Part  of  the  great  mission  of  the  Church  is  thus 
to  establish  the  State. 

What  form  of  paganism  is  there  that  has  not  been  established 
by  the  State  and  is  dependent  on  the  State?  It  was  after  her 
first  three  centuries  of  growth,  without  the  aid  of  the  State,  and 
even  despite  its  opposition,  that  the  Christian  Church  eclipsed  her 
early  glory  by  an  alliance  with  the  Eoman  Empire.  The  Keforma- 
tion  under  Luther  could  shake  off  the  yoke  of  Eome,  but  not  the 
example  of  Eome.  Our  first  colonists  could  not  conceive  religion 
as  other  than  established  by  the  State,  and  so  for  the  first  century 
of  our  existence  there  was  some  established  Church  in  every  colony 
supported  by  some  kind  of  taxation,  with  laws  prohibitory  of  other 
religious  faiths.  The  common  cause  of  the  American  Eevolution 
made  our  fathers  tolerant  of  the  Churches  which  gave  freely  of 
their  sons  to  fight  our  battles,  and  then  the  era  of  toleration  fol- 
lowed the  era  of  established  Churches.  This  in  time  was  followed 
by  an  era  of  competition  marked  by  sharp  religious  debates  and 
much  building  of  altar  against  altar.  These  several  eras  may  be 
said  to  mark  successively  the  last  three  centuries.  With  the 
coming  of  the  present  century  we  are  to  witness  as  never  in  the 
history  of  Christianity  the  era  of  cooperation.  Our  differences 
are  few,  compared  with  our  points  of  agreement.  With  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  gracious  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit  we  will  seek 
to  walk  worthily  of  this  calling  wherewith  we  are  called,  with  all 
lowliness  and  meekness,  with  long  suffering,  forbearing  one  an- 
other in  love,  giving  diligence  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in 
the  bond  of  peace,  remembering  that  we  have  one  God  and  Father, 
who  is  over  all,  and  through  all  and  in  all. 


THE    IDEAL    CHURCH 


The  Rt.  Rev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


The  Ideal  Church  may  be  comprehensively  yet  accurately  de- 
scribed as  the  embodiment  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  Church  which 
reproduces  Him  or  continues  Him  on  the  earth.  And  ineismuch 
as  Jesus  Christ  was  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  or  was  in  other 
words  the  Incarnation  of  Him,  that  is  what,  as  far  as  the  limi- 
tations of  our  human  nature  will  allow,  the  Christian  Church 
should  be — God  manifest  in  the  flesh;  so  that  in  their  search 
for  God,  with  that  instinctive  quest  which  cannot  be  destroyed, 
which  no  agnostic  philosophy  can  stifle  or  suppress,  men  might 
be  able  to  find  Him;  not  merely  as  a  portrait  on  the  pages  of  a 
book,  admirable  and  beautiful  and  perfect  as  that  is,  but  as  a 
Living  Presence  dwelling  in  their  midst.  Whom  their  eyes  can 
see.  Whom  their  hands  can  touch  and  handle,  in  the  Church. 
Our  Roman  Catholic  brethren,  who  are  not  with  us  in  this  Con- 
ference (and  I  am  sorry  they  are  not)  have  something  to  teach 
us  here,  in  teaching  as  they  do  the  value  and  the  need  not  merely 
of  a  past  but  of  a  present  Incarnation;  of  an  Incarnation  which 
has  been  through  all  the  Christian  ages  by  the  Christian  Church 
continued;  a  perpetual  Incarnation,  then,  now  and  always — God 
manifest  in  the  flesh.  One  of  their  most  distinguished  and  elo- 
quent representatives  has  given  to  this  thought  a  notable  ex- 
pression, when,  in  speaking  of  the  Mass,  Cardinal  Newman  says, 
"It  is  not  a  mere  form  of  words,  it  is  a  great  action,  the  greatest 
that  can  be  on  earth.  It  is  not  the  Invocation,  but,  if  I  may  dare 
use  the  term,  the  E-vocation  of  that  Eternal  One,  becoming  pres- 
ent on  the  Altar  in  flesh  and  blood,  before  Whom  angels  bow 
and  devils  tremble." 

Now  we,  as  the  representatives  of  the  Protestant  part  of 
Christendom,  do  not  accept  that  Doctrine  of  the  Mass,  that  evo- 
cation of  God,  that  calling  forth  in  flesh  and  blood  of  God  upon 
the  Altar.  And  yet  it  does  I  think  shadow  forth  a  truth  which 
the  Protestant  world  to  some  extent  has  missed  or  failed  to 
grasp.  It  is  this — that  the  miracle  of  the  Incarnation  is  meant 
in  some  real  sense  to  be,  through  the  agency  of  the  Christian 

597 


598  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

Church,  a  standing  miracle  in  the  world,  not  on  the  Church's 
Altar  wrought  but  in  the  Church's  self,  in  the  Church's  life.  And 
let  me  say  in  passing,  if  some  devout  and  reverent  Christian  hearts 
do  indeed  find  it  on  the  Altar  wrought,  then  although  I  must 
and  do  reject  their  doctrine  I  will  not  reject  them,  but  in  the 
common  bond  and  fellowship  of  the  Gospel  will  try  to  do  in  my 
way  what  they  are  trying  to  do  in  theirs — to  make  the  Christian 
Church  on  earth  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  her  Incarnate  Lord, 
God  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

That  is  what  at  least  ideally  she  is,  and  what  in  reality  she 
must  try  to  be,  in  order  to  meet  and  satisfy  the  human  need  of 
God  and  the  human  craving  for  him.  We  sometimes  hear  it 
said  that  the  true  and  needed  cry  of  Christendom  to-day  is  "Back 
to  Jesus  Christ!"  But  that  is  a  far  cry,  "Back  to  Jesus  Christ," 
and  a  far  journey;  too  far  for  many  to  take,  through  the  critical 
searching  and  sifting  and  labyrinthine  wandering  of  nigh  two 
thousand  years;  and  is  not,  I  think,  the  cry,  or  not  the  chief 
and  only  cry  which  the  modern  world  is  voicing,  or  which  it  needs 
to  hear.  There  is  another  cry,  more  important  and  importunate. 
"Show  us  the  Father,"  said  Philip  to  the  Church's  Lord  and 
Head;  and  that  is  what  the  Christian  Church  is  asked  to-day  to 
do.  Do  not  merely  give  us  argument  about  Him,  theological  or 
ontological;  that  is  not  enough;  and  while  it  may  create  some 
probable  presumption,  it  does  not  and  it  cannot  silence  and  con- 
vince. But,  show  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us.  And  the 
Christian  Church  is  lacking  in  what  she  ought  to  be,  is  not  an 
ideal  Church,  if,  in  response  to  that  request,  she  cannot  make  re- 
ply, not  by  what  she  says,  but  what  she  is,  by  what  her  members 
are.  "Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you  and  yet  hast  thou 
not  known  Me?  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father;" 
the  Father's  love  and  life  here  upon  the  earth,  dwelling  in  your 
midst,  embodied  and  expressed,  manifest  in  the  flesh. 

Now,  if  that  is  what  ideally  the  Christian  Church  is,  or  what 
she  is  meant  to  be,  then  we  see  and  know  what  she  is  meant 
to  do,  what  her  mission  is.  And  what  is  it?  To  rescue  and  to 
save  the  souls  of  men  and  women  for  some  other  world  than 
this?  Yes,  that  is  her  mission,  for  that  other  world.  But  for 
this  world,  her  mission  is  to  extend  that  incarnation  of  God, 
and  to  try  more  and  more  to  help  all  human  life,  all  human 
flesh,  to  be  it,  and  in  that  way  to  extend  God's  kingdom  in  the 
world.    To  this  end  she  ministers  unto  the  body,  because  of  what 


THE  IDEAL  CHURCH  599 

that  body  is  or  what  it  may  become — the  temple  on  earth  of 
God.  And  every  break  or  damage  in  or  injury  to  that  temple  it 
is  her  sacred  duty,  her  privilege  to  repair.  It  is  the  inspiring 
motive  of  what  is  sometimes  called,  though  not  very  felicitously, 
the  "Institutional  Church,"  by  which  is  meant  a  church  actively 
engaged  in  physical  forms  of  service,  in  physical  philanthropies 
of  many  and  various  kinds;  not  indeed  as  a  substitute,  as  we 
sometimes  hear  it  said,  for  a  declining  spiritual  faith,  or  a  lost 
spiritual  faith ;  but  rather  as  the  corollary  of  a  quickened  spiritual 
faith,  which  even  in  the  body  of  man,  in  his  physical  nature,  a 
spiritual  value  or  a  spiritual  promise  sees,  and  which  therefore  is 
moved  to  minister  unto  the  body. 

And  so  from  the  very  first  the  Christian  Church  has  minis- 
tered unto  the  body,  and  has  been  what  we  call  an  "Institutional 
Church."  It  was  a  Christian  woman  who  established  the  first 
public  hospital.  It  was  a  Christian  Bishop  who  caused  to  be 
erected  the  first  asylum  for  lepers.  It  was  a  Christian  monk 
who  caused  to  be  erected  the  first  refuge  for  the  blind.  It  was 
a  Christian  merchant  who  caused  to  be  erected  the  first  free  dis- 
pensary. It  was  the  Christian  Council  of  Nicea  that  ordered  to 
be  erected  in  every  Christian  city  a  public  institution  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poor.* 

That  was  then  her  work,  and  that  is  now  her  work,  to  minister 
unto  the  body,  because  of  what  that  body  is  or  what  it  may  be- 
come— God^s  temple  on  the  earth;  and  to  fit  it  to  become  it,  and  so 
to  extend  His  kingdom  in  the  world.  But  that  is  not  the  whole 
of  her  mission;  it  is  but  the  smaller  part  of  it.  The  other  and 
the  greater  part  is  to  put  God  in  His  temple,  or  rather  to  declare 
that  that  is  where  He  is  and  where  He  may  be  found,  and  to  help 
men  to  find  Him  there — the  Lord  in  His  temple.  That  is  what 
she  says  to  man  his  moral  nature  is;  that  moral  sense  or  con- 
science which  he  finds  or  feels  energizing  in  him  and  from  which 
he  cannot  escape.  It  is  not  the  working  in  him,  so  the  Church 
declares,  of  some  enacted  human  law,  some  prescribed  conven- 
tion, some  social  rule  or  code,  to  be  from  time  to  time  determined 
by  a  vote,  a  referendum  vote,  thus  causing  him  to  feel  that  as  a 
moral  creature  he  is  always  standing  on  the  heads  of  a  moving 
crowd.  No;  it  is  not  that;  but  something  else  and  greater,  more 
sacred,  more  divine;  something  which  at  times  makes  him  rise 
above  social  rules  and  codes  and  statutes  and  traditions,  and 

*See  Lecky's  "History  of  European  Morals." 


600  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

makes  his  conduct  more  honorable  and  honest  than  what  the  law 
requires  or  what  is  by  a  conventional  morality  prescribed.  It  is,  so 
she  tells  him,  the  working  in  him  of  God,  that  same  Eternal  God, 
that  same  Eternal  Spirit  who,  in  all  the  forms,  planets,  suns  and 
stars  of  physical  nature,  works,  yet  working,  too,  in  him,  that 
same  Eternal  Spirit,  whose  perfect  work  in  human  life  in  Jesus 
Christ  appears,  yet  working,  too,  in  him,  to  find  expression  in  him, 
incarnation  in  him! 

And  so  we  find  Saint  Paul,  after  he  has  described  the  greatness 
of  Jesus  Christ,  calling  Him  the  Image  of  the  Invisible  God,  the 
Firstborn  of  all  creation,  by  Whom  were  all  the  things  in  heaven 
and  earth  created,  thrones,  dominions,  principalities  and  powers; 
saying  to  those  to  whom  he  writes,  "This  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you," 
as  the  hope  of  glory  in  you.  And  the  Church's  message  then 
through  her  great  apostle  is  her  message  now,  to  go  to  men  and 
say — to  men  both  here  and  everywhere,  in  this  and  other  lands — 
this  Jesus  Christ  of  Whom  we  have  come  to  tell  you  is  no  stranger 
to  you;  this  Jesus  Christ  is  in  you;  feebly  to  be  sure,  and  poorly, 
with  much  to  obscure  and  hinder  the  manifestation  of  Him; 
nevertheless  He  is  in  you;  and  while  it  is  His  story  we  tell,  it  is 
your  story,  too.  Thus  does  she  try  to  take  that  story  of  Jesus 
Christ  found  on  the  Gospel  pages  and  spread  it  through  the 
world,  and  make  it  the  world's  story.  Not  only  as  the  story  to 
which  the  world  may  listen,  but  rather  as  the  story  which  it 
may  indeed  more  and  more  become,  thus  continuing  in  the  world, 
in  the  world's  life,  not  merely  in  its  religious  but  in  its  secular 
life,  and  in  all  the  secular  forms  and  manifestations  of  it,  that 
incarnate  life  of  God,  so  fully  and  so  perfectly  in  Jesus  Christ 
expressed. 

It  is  related  of  Mr.  Beecher  that  when  on  a  certain  occa- 
sion someone  was  conversing  with  him  just  before  his  death, 
concerning  the  completion  of  his  book,  "The  Life  of  Christ," 
Mr.  Beecher  fell  into  a  reverie,  and,  looking  out  of  the  window, 
said,  "Finish  the  life  of  Christ,  finish  the  life  of  Christ?  Who 
can  finish  the  life  of  Christ?  It  cannot  be  finished!"  No,  as 
another  remarks  in  commenting  on  the  incident,  it  cannot  be 
finished;  but  it  can  be  continued  and  extended  in  the  world. 
And  that  is  the  mission  of  the  Christian  Church,  to  continue  and 
extend  it  in  the  world,  not  merely,  as  I  have  said,  by  preaching 
it  to  the  world,  but  by  trying  to  put  it  into  the  world's  life,  its 


THE  IDEAL  CHURCH  601 

real  and  actual  life,  and  thus  to  help  to  make  the  life  of  the 
world  complete,  by  helping  it  more  and  more  to  become  the  in- 
carnation of  God. 

Yes,  the  life  of  the  world  complete,  and  so  to  make 

Man  is  not  man  as  yet 
Nor  shall  I  deem  his  object  served,  his  end 
Attained,   his   genuine   strength   put   fairly   forth, 
While  only  here  and  there  a  star  dispels 
The  darkness,  here  and  there  a  towering  mind 
O'erlooks  its  prostrate  fellows ;  when  the  host 
Is  out  at  once  to  the  despair  of  night. 
When  all  mankind  alike  is  perfected. 
Equal  in  full-blown  powers — then,  not  till  then 

will  man  have  reached  his  stature  growth  and  measure  on  the 
earth,  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Jesus  Christ. 

To  bring  about  that  end  is  the  Church's  aim  and  mission, 
and  how  can  she  best  perform  it?  How  can  she  speed  and 
hasten  the  final  fulfilment  of  it?  Not  with  divided  councils  and 
not  with  scattered  forces.  Hitherto  they  have  been  scattered 
and  divided ;  and  perhaps  it  was  inevitable  and  not  altogether  un- 
desirable that  they  should  have  been,  in  order  thus  to  prepare 
the  way  for  a  larger  and  truer  synthesis  and  combination  of  them. 
For,  as  Professor  Caird  has  said,  "Until  the  full  extent  of  a  dif- 
ference is  measured,  every  combination  of  conflicting  elements 
must  be  merely  a  compromise.  It  is  only  when  the  antagonism 
has  been  fully  worked  out  and  sharpened  to  its  utmost  intensity 
that  we  can  look  through  and  beyond  it  and  discover  whether 
after  all  there  is  not  a  principle  of  unity  which  is  presupposed 
in  the  division  and  therefore  capable  of  overcoming  it." 

And  the  Christian  world  has  been  working  out  its  differences, 
has  been  sharpening  them  to  their  utmost  intensity.  And  now 
the  time  has  come,  or  it  is  coming — and  that  is  why  this  Con- 
ference has  come — when  the  Christian  world  is  beginning  to  look 
not  merely  at  its  differences,  but  through  them  or  beyond  them, 
for  some  deeper  principle  of  a  pervading  unity  in  them,  and 
which  will  have  the  effect  to  give  some  larger  vision  of  Christ. 
Some  partial  visions  of  Him  the  different  sections  of  Christendom 
have  already  given — the  Eastern  vision  of  Him,  with  its  meta- 
physical subtlety:  the  Western  vision  of  Him,  with  its  practical 
utUity:  the  Southern  vision  of  Him,  with  its  warm  and  glowing 
ardor:  the  Northern  vision  of  Him,  with  its  cooler  and  calmer 


602  CHURCH  FEDEBATI02i 

temper — with  their  respective  temperamental  differences.  And 
now  not  in  any  one  of  them  alone,  but  in  all  of  them  together, 
will  that  vision  of  Him  be  seen.  Who,  from  all  the  sections  of 
the  earth,  north  and  south  and  east  and  west,  is  to  gather  more 
and  more  His  subjects  to  Himself  and  be  the  Lord  of  all !  Then 
will  the  Christian  Church  be  able  to  do  in  the  world  a  larger 
and  better  and  more  appealing  work,  by  giving  to  it  a  more  ap- 
pealing vision  of  Christ,  and  thus  to  hasten  the  time  when  all 
human  life  on  earth  will  be  the  expression  of  Him,  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh,  and  the  Church  herself  become,  in  Cyprian's 
noble  phrase,  the  Mother  of  all  of  whom  God  is  the  Father. 


HON.  SAMUEL  B.  CAPEN,  LL.D. 


HON.  M.  LINN  BRUCE 


REV.  A.  E.  DAHLMAN,  D.D. 


REV.  W.  B.  NOBLE 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THIS  CONFERENCE 


ADDRESS 
The  Hon.  Samuel  B.  Capen,  LL.D. 


I  have  been  asked  at  the  close  of  this  Conference  to  speak  a 
brief  word  from  the  standpoint  of  the  layman. 

In  every  great  movement  there  is  a  time  for  decisive  action. 
Years  may  be  necessary  for  preparation,  but  finally  the  time 
comes  to  act.  The  hour  has  struck  in  the  history  of  the  nation 
and  of  the  Church  for  this  Church  federation,  because  now  as 
never  before  the  movement  will  be  in  harmony  with  the  spirit 
of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  What  are  the  two  words  that  ex- 
press the  principles  which  to-day  rule  in  the  business  world? 
The  first  is  Cooperation.  We  have  passed  out  of  the  age  of 
individualism  into  that  of  Federation.  Combination,  not  com- 
petition, is  moulding  methods  of  action ;  there  is  more  of  brother- 
hood and  less  of  hate.  Dr.  Hale  said  at  Mohonk  a  year  ago: 
"Together  is  the  20th  century  word." 

The  second  thought  is  economy,  the  saving  of  waste.  There 
is  hardly  anything  in  modern  business  that  so  differentiates  it 
from  the  past  as  this.  The  value  of  the  'T)y-product"  in  many 
manufacturing  establishments  has  come  to  large  proportions,  and 
it  is  considered  gross  business  mismanagement  not  to  save  at 
every  point. 

Now  apply  these  two  thoughts  to  the  work  of  the  Church. 
First,  our  sects  and  denominations  have  often  been  sources  of 
rivalry  and  competition,  and  they  have  left  the  Church  as  a 
whole  weakened  and  shorn  of  its  power.  We  have  not  presented 
a  united  front  against  a  common  enemy,  but  have  too  often  fired 
into  one  another's  camps;  and  this  when  the  foe  that  we  fight 
is  united  and  strong.  But  we  are  moving  away  from  the  ex- 
treme individualistic  ideas  of  religion  prevalent  fifty  years  ago, 
and  men  are  now  considered  in  their  relation  to  others.  Co- 
operation through  a  closer  federation  is  the  need  of  the  hour. 
Nearly  twenty  years  ago,  I  remember  making  an  address  in  which 
"comity"  was  the  chief  thought.  We  have  now  in  our  progress 
gone  by  that  stage,  and  have  come  to  Federation. 

The  second  thought  is  this:  We  must  carry  the  same  spirit 
of  economy  into  our  Church  work  that  we  have  now  in  our 
business,  and  thereby  come  into  harmony  with  modern  ideas. 

605 


606  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

We  can  no  longer  go  on  saving  in  the  business  world  and  wasting 
in  the  Church.  And  there  are  no  other  words  to  characterize 
many  of  our  Church  methods  in  the  past  than  these,  shameful 
waste.  Kyoto  sent  a  message  some  time  ago,  that  they  had  fif- 
teen different  kinds  of  religion  there  now  and  not  to  send  them 
any  more. 

In  one  of  our  large  cities  recently  a  gentleman  visited  three 
places  open  for  reading  rooms  and  religious  services,  and  all 
within  a  few  minutes'  walk  of  one  another.  There  were  perhaps 
twenty  people  in  the  first,  four  or  five  in  another,  and  less  in 
the  third,  and  this  was  said  to  be  the  usual  condition.  Here 
were  the  expenses  for  rent,  heat,  light,  and  janitor  service  for 
three  halls  when  one  would  have  answered  every  purpose.  In 
a  small  city  in  New  England  there  were  a  few  months  ago  three 
denominations  working  and  spending  money  to  get  hold  of  a 
settlement  of  foreigners  which  did  not  number  altogether  six 
hundred  persons.  Is  not  all  this  waste  and  folly?  Little  towns 
out  on  the  prairies  with  five  hundred  people  often  have  three 
churches,  all  weak  and  requiring  outside  help.  Even  then  they 
are  not  able  to  have  fully  trained  pastors  with  ability  and  ex- 
perience capable  of  moulding  a  new  community.  With  one  church 
only,  this  would  be  possible.  Let  me  by  a  ludicrous  illustration 
show  what  has  been  and  what  is  to  be.  Some  time  ago  it  was 
claimed  that  ia  one  of  the  far  Western  States  a  civil  engineer 
laid  out  a  new  town  lot,  setting  the  four  corner  posts,  and  then 
went  away  a  half  mile  to  eat  his  luncheon.  When  he  returned 
he  found  four  men,  each  of  them  sitting  upon  one  of  these 
corner  posts,  and  they  represented  four  different  missionary  so- 
cieties and  all  in  competition  with  one  another!  That  repre- 
sents what  has  been.  In  the  future,  the  first  representative  of  a 
missionary  society  that  comes  will  plant  his  stake  in  the  centre  of 
the  new  town,  preempting  that  place  for  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  letting  the  other  three  men  who  follow  take  possession 
each  of  some  other  town  from  which  all  the  other  denominations 
shall  keep  out  until  at  least  one  good  church  is  strong  and  able 
to  go  alone. 

There  is  another  word  which  is  having  a  growing  significance, 
Service.  Men  are  recognizing  as  never  before  their  obligations 
to  others ;  that  no  man  can  live  unto  himself,  and  that  his  obliga- 
tion increases  with  his  opportunity.  Many  men  of  wealth  ap- 
preciate that  they  are  trustees  for  humanity  and  that  it  is  de- 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THIS  CONFERENCE  607 

spicable  to  spend  everything  upon  themselves.  Young  men  and 
women  in  increasing  numbers  are  going  into  settlement  work, 
or  are  offering  their  lives  for  missionary  service  at  home  and  abroad. 
Witness  the  ever  increasing  number  of  the  Student  Volunteers 
and  the  work  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  With  "graft"  everywhere,  and 
declining  moral  perceptions  in  so  many,  there  is  another  set  of 
men  who  have  high  purposes,  and  the  feeling  that  greatness 
consists  in  service  is  widening  and  deepening.  But,  and  here 
is  the  point  of  emphasis,  men  who  want  to  serve  and  are  ready  to 
sacrifice  for  it^  want  their  lives  to  count  for  the  most  and  do 
not  propose  to  fritter  them  away  in  foolish  strife  and  sectarian 
rivalry  when  unity  is  possible.  "Together"  is  the  watchword 
for  greater  service. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  remember  that  we  have  already  begun  our 
united  work.  In  the  recent  revolution  in  Philadelphia,  in  which 
the  "Boss"  has  been  dethroned  and  the  people  of  that  city  have 
thrown  off  the  shackles,  what  was  the  great  force  that  worked 
for  the  deliverance  ?  Certainly  one  of  the  greatest  was  the  united 
effort  of  the  Christian  Church.  Almost  every  clergyman  in  Phil- 
adelphia Sunday  after  Sunday  thundered  away  at  the  great  wrong. 
When  the  election  returns  began  to  come  in  and  it  was  found 
that  the  city  party  had  triumphed,  the  bands  in  the  street  struck 
up  "Onward,  Christian  Soldiers,"  and  the  people  on  the  sidewalk 
took  up  the  song.  The  same  thing  has  been  true  in  Ohio,  where 
the  Churches  have  entered  into  politics  more  earnestly  than  ever 
and  wrought  the  great  change  in  that  State.  Mayor  Jones  in 
Minneapolis,  in  his  recent  order  closing  the  saloons  on  the  Lord's 
Day,  has  back  of  him  to  give  him  moral  support  the  Churches 
of  that  city.  In  a  similar  way  it  was  the  moral  forces  in  this 
city  working  together  which  elected  William  Travers  Jerome. 

And  we  have  as  never  before  one  army  of  Christ.  The  vet- 
erans of  our  Civil  War  had  their  regimental  and  division  badges. 
But  we  think  no  longer  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  or  of  the 
Cumberland,  or  of  the  Tennessee,  or  of  the  Gulf.  We  think  no 
more  of  the  distinct  armies  of  the  South,  composed  of  the  brave 
men  who  fought  under  Lee  and  Longstreet  and  Stonewall  Jack- 
son. We  are  all  together  now  and  forever  under  the  Stars  and 
Stripes.  So  we  are  here  as  different  denominations  and  we  have 
our  own  badges  and  designation;  but  we  are  thinking  very  little 
of  these  now,  for  we,  the  black  man  and  the  white  man,  the  chil- 


606  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

dren  of  the  men  who  wore  the  blue  and  who  wore  the  gray,  are 
all  one  at  last  in  this  holier  war,  not  only  under  the  flag,  hut 
under  that  which  is  far  higher,  the  Cross  of  Christ.  Together  for 
service  is  the  rallying  cry  for  this  hour. 


ADDRESS 
The  Hon.  M.  Linn  Bruce 


A  minister  preaching  the  other  day  down  on  West  street  at  the 
noon  hour  to  a  crowd  of  longshoremen  mentioned  the  word 
"church,"  and  there  were  groans  and  hisses ;  he  mentioned  the  word 
"Christ,"  and  every  head  was  bared  and  bowed  in  reverence. 

The  Church  does  not  have  the  respect  or  the  confidence  of  the 
masses.     We  gather  in  a  few,  but  the  millions  go  by. 

I  hope  this  grand  Conference  has  done  something  to  impress  the 
great  masses  of  this  cosmopolitan  city  and  of  this  great  State,  and 
of  the  whole  nation,  with  the  fact  that  the  Churches  are  imiting 
together  in  a  determined  effort  to  bring  the  Gospel  to  the  people. 
I  heard  Dr.  Talmage  some  years  ago  speaking  down  on  the  Bowery 
at  an  anniversary  service  of  the  Bowery  Mission  from  the  text, 
"Other  sheep  have  I  that  are  not  of  this  fold,"  and  he  said  the  time 
was  when  ministers  spent  their  time  fishing  in  private  pools — Bap- 
tists, Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Congregationalists,  all  fishing  for 
one  another;  but  he  said  those  days  have  passed  away,  and  we  are 
now  out  on  the  great  banks  after  millions,  out  for  the  masses. 

I  tell  you,  my  friends,  this  Conference  means  a  forward  move- 
ment in  Christian  work.  It  means  a  forward  movement  in  the 
Christian  Church,  to  the  end  that  Christ  may  be  so  lifted  up  that 
He  will  draw  all  men  to  Himself — lifted  up  unitedly,  lifted  up  by 
a  Church  with  a  sympathy  as  broad  as  Christianity  itself.  This 
will  bring  the  ideal  Church,  and  an  ideal  Church  will  bring  an  ideal 
State. 

We  have  recently  had  the  lesson  here  in  New  York  of  what  good 
people  can  accomplish  by  a  united  effort.  They  wanted  Jerome  for 
District  Attorney,  they  determined  to  have  him,  and  they  have 
him.  They  wanted  reform  in  Philadelphia,  and  they  got  it.  They 
wanted  good  government  in  Cincinnati,  and  they  got  it.  Why,  ray 
friends,  a  united  civic  movement  by  all  good  people  will  accomplish 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THIS  CONFERENCE  609 

great  things,  and  that  which  wins  in  political,  in  municipal,  in  State 
affairs,  will  win  in  Church  affairs. 

The  great  need  of  the  Church  to-day  is  just  what  this  movement 
stands  for — a  united  forward  effort,  a  long  pull,  a  strong  pull  and 
a  pull  all  together  and  forever,  a  uniting  of  all  religious  forces  for 
Christ. 


ADDRESS 
The  Hon.  Henry  Kirke  Porter 


This  summons  by  the  Chairman  was  all  unexpected  by  me,  but 
I  cannot  refuse  such  an  invitation  and  a  privilege  to  utter  a  word 
here  during  these  closing  moments  of  this  great  Conference.  I 
came  to  this  Conference  with  the  one  thought,  a  thought  that  has 
abided  with  me  and  has  increased  as  I  have  listened  to  the  words 
that  have  been  spoken  and  as  I  have  joined  with  you  in  the  hymns 
of  praise  to  Him  who  is  our  Leader,  That  thought  is  that  we  come 
near  to  one  another  as  we  come  near  to  Christ.  Christ  is  a  magnet, 
"I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  And  we  are  to 
be  drawn  to  Him.  Let  us  make  our  lives  satisfactory  to  ourselves 
— not  how  are  they  in  the  sight  of  the  world,  but  how  are  they  in 
our  own  sight  and  in  our  own  judgment?  If  that  attraction  of 
the  Master  increases,  if  the  impelUng  power  of  a  new  affection 
rules  our  hearts,  if  that  affection  grows  with  our  growth  and  in- 
creases with  our  years,  then  indeed  shall  we  be  drawn  closer  to  one 
another,  and  we  will  not  need  to  proclaim  it  to  the  world,  for  the 
world  will  know  it,  and  His  blessing  will  rest  upon  us. 

I  rejoice  in  the  effective  work  that  has  been  done  by  those  who 
are  striving  to  bring  us  all  into  the  attitude  of  mind  where  we  shall 
see  plainly  those  things  that  we  have  in  common,  and  where  we 
shall  learn  not  to  magnify  the  less  important  things  upon  which 
we  differ.  And  so  my  prayer  is,  out  of  my  own  heart,  out  of  my 
own  life,  that  we  may  be  drawn  closer  to  one  another  by  being 
drawn  close  to  Him. 


ADDRESS 
W.  C.  Stoever,  Esq. 


If  it  be  true,  as  the  last  speaker  remarked,  that  "the  Church 
does  not  have  the  respect  of  the  masses,"  then  there  is  something 
wrong,  and  early  correction  is  needed.  Archbishop  Farley,  of  the 
Eoman  Catholic  Church,  is  quoted  as  saying:  "If  we  do  not  edu- 
cate the  people  and  children  we  are  bound  to  have  empty  churches 
within  a  short  time,"  and  the  same  seems  true  of  Protestant 
Churches.    We  need  to  be  educated  to  live  and  grow. 

It  has  been  the  aim  of  the  Lutheran  Church  to  develop  by  edu- 
cation, and  the  eighty  thousand  young  people  whom  I  have  the 
honor  of  representing  at  this  meeting  are  to-day  engaged  in  a 
weekly  study  of  the  Word  of  God,  believing  that  the  regular,  con- 
scientious and  systematic  study  of  The  Book  makes  men  and 
women  who  will  be  ready  to  do  their  duty  both  in  the  State  and 
the  Church.  We  believe  in  the  incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ,  His 
atoning  sacrifice.  His  glorious  resurrection,  His  divinity  and  deity, 
and  aim  to  serve  Him  as  we  are  taught  in  His  Word.  If  the 
youth  can  learn  to  obey  that  first  and  great  commandment,  to  "love 
the  Lord  with  all  their  heart,  with  all  their  soul,  with  all  their 
strength,  and  with  all  their  mind,"  giving  up  their  whole  service  to 
Him,  then  certainly  they  will  know  well  how  to  carry  out  the  sec- 
ond, "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  and  their  hearts 
will  be  consecrated  to  look  after  those  who  are  suffering  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  Our  Church  is  a  Missionary  Church,  and  we 
rejoice,  in  the  last  days  of  this  month,  in  celebrating  the  two  hun- 
dreth  anniversary  of  the  sailing  from  Denmark  of  our  two  mission- 
aries, Ziegenbalg  and  Pluetschau.  the  first  sent  from  any  port  to 
India.  They  sailed  by  way  of  Africa,  establishing  a  mission  there, 
and  erected  their  station  in  Tranquebar,  on  the  Madras  coast.  Here 
they  worked  faithfully.  The  former,  Ziegenbalg,  learned  to  preach 
in  the  Tamil  language  in  eight  months,  and  subsequently  trans- 
lated the  Bible  into  that  tongue,  making  for  himself  a  grammar 
and  dictionary  at  the  same  time.  From  that  day  to  the  present 
there  has  been  a  Lutheran  mission  in  India. 

If  education  is  followed  and  these  lessons  are  learned,  then  the 
man  who  is  heartily  in  sympathy  with  the  Church  and  Mission 
work  will  have  a  consecrated  pocketbook,  and  will  be  ready  to  give, 
unlike  the  man  who  boasted  that  salvation  is  free,  and.  although  he 

610 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THIS  CONFERENCE  611 

had  been  a  member  of  the  Church  for  fifty  years,  it  had  not  cost 
him  a  cent.  Education  in  the  Word,  in  Missions  and  in  Giving 
elevates  a  man,  prepares  him  to  stand  before  princes,  and  to  make 
known  his  love  by  his  life  anywhere,  everywhere.  "They  that  waii 
on  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength  like  the  eagles."  "Train 
up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will  not 
depart  from  it." 


ADDRESS 
The  Rev.  John  J.  Tigert,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


What  shall  he  do  that  comes  after  the  king,  and  what  shall  he 
say  that  comes  at  the  end  of  a  long  line  of  speakers  who  have  been 
acclaimed  masters  of  assemblies  by  your  generous  applause? 
Though  every  one  who  has  spoken  from  this  platform  has  proved 
himself  a  master  of  assemblies  by  the  nails  he  has  driven  through 
and  fastened,  I  rejoice  most  of  all  that  the  assembly  itself  has  evi- 
dently been  given  from  one  Shepherd.  If  I  had  had  ample  notice 
that  I  was  expected  to  speak  on  this  occasion,  and  if  I  had  had 
time  wherein  properly  to  express  my  sentiments,  I  should  be  unable 
to  command  any  adequate  words  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  this 
moment;  for  some  of  us  came  from  the  far  South  with  timidity 
and  hesitancy,  and  perchance  with  a  lurking  suspicion  that,  after 
all,  we  might  not  find  ourselves  among  our  own.  I  am  very  happy 
to  say,  and  to  speak  for  others  of  the  South  as  well  as  myself,  that 
every  such  feeling  has  been  wholly  dissipated  by  the  experiences  in 
this  great  Conference.  If  I  were  to  be  called  upon  to  frame  a 
definition  of  Christianity,  in  the  light  of  the  teachings  from  this 
platform  and  of  the  experiences  of  this  Conference,  I  should  per- 
haps declare  that  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  God's  redeeming 
love,  manifested  in  the  incarnate  life,  the  atoning  death  and  the 
glorious  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  founder  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  whose  citizens  are  become  sons  of  God  by  the  power  of  His 
Spirit  and  brothers  of  all  mankind.  And  if,  after  such  an  aver- 
ment of  my  personal  conception  of  Christianity,  I  should  venture 
to  proceed  to  a  like  definition  or  description  of  the  Church  of  God, 
I  should  say  that  it  is  the  universal  company  of  believers  in  Jesus 
Christ,  scattered  throughout  the  earth,  who  are  nevertheless  one  in 


612  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

Him,  because  they  acknowledge  Him  as  their  only  head;  because 
by  His  Spirit  they  have  been  baptized  into  one  body,  and  because 
they  accept  the  law  of  love  contained  in  His  Gospel  as  the  rule 
of  their  lives. 

If  such  conceptions  of  Christianity  and  of  the  Church  of  God 
are  rightly  grounded  in  the  experiences  of  those  here,  I  can  only 
indulge  the  hope  that  in  the  practical  operations  by  which  we 
shall  seek  to  extend  the  Kingdom  of  God  we  shall  find  these  con- 
ceptions suflBciently  broad  and  deep  and  sufficiently  Christian  to 
inclose  all  of  our  activities,  to  inspire  all  our  aims  and  to  give  an 
unequivocal  success  to  all  our  plans. 


THE  CLOSING  ADDRESS 


The  Rev.  Bishop  John  H.  Vincent,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


Mr.  Chairman  and  Members  of  the  Inter-Church  Conference : 

One  fine  Jime  morning  a  lad  stood  at  his  father's  side  watch- 
ing the  sunrise.  After  the  radiant  glow  had  freed  itself  from  the 
tangle  of  trees  and  hills,  and  rolled  up  into  view  in  the  burning 
east,  the  boy  exclaimed,  "Well,  that's  the  end  of  the  sunrise." 
"But,"  said  the  father,  "it  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  day." 
Brethren  of  the  Inter-Church  Conference :  It  is  morning  with 
us!  Accept  congratulations!  The  sunrise  is  over,  but  the  day 
— the  days  are  before  us!  A  page  of  ecclesiastical  history  has 
been  written.  And  I  am  not  the  only  one  here  present  who 
in  the  depths  of  his  soul  heard  last  Saturday  morning,  after  that 
unanimous  and  cordial  vote,  a  voice  saying:  "Peace  I  leave  with 
you.  My  peace  I  give  unto  you." 

1.  The  Inter-Church  Federation  becomes  a  fact.  As  such  it 
is  first  of  all  a  demonstration  of  power  and  a  prophecy  of  success. 

2.  Again,  the  fact  that  Christian  workers  thus  combine  to 
cooperate  in  Church  activities  acquires  a  new  and  double  sig- 
nificance when  we  remember  how  largely  the  workers  represent 
also  the  thinkers — the  scholars,  the  theologians,  the  historians. 


FEDERATION  A  DECLARATION  OF  UNITY  613 

the  ecclesiastical  leaders  in  our  churches.    They  come  from  semi- 
naries, councils,  conferences,  synods  and  pulpits. 

The  movement  was  not  initiated  by  tyros,  nor  by  youthful, 
susceptible  and  sentimental  enthusiasts,  but  by  men  of  years,  of 
large  experience,  of  sound  learning  and  of  excellent  judgment — 
men  who  know  human  nature  and  who  have  deliberately,  cau- 
tiously and  wisely  wrought  toward  this  consummation. 

3.  The  Federation  is  a  public  declaration  of  virtual  unity  in 
faith,  in  doctrine  and  in  spirit.  In  ecclesiastical  theories  and 
policies  we  may  still  widely  differ;  in  detailed  doctrinal  definitions 
we  may  not  perfectly  agree.  But  we  are  "one  in  Christ  Jesus," 
in  our  recognition  of  Him,  in  our  love  for  Him,  in  our  loyalty 
to  Him. 

4.  This  guarantees  a  spirit  of  hospitality — the  hospitality 
of  Christian  charity.  Through  the  tie  that  binds  us  throbs  and 
flows  the  spirit  of  love  that  ensures  mutual  appreciation  of  the 
fundamental  truths  we  accept,  and  the  phases  of  these  truths  we 
respectively  emphasize.  Ours  is  not  an  outward  unity  for  the 
sake  of  financial  economy,  nor  for  the  sake  of  any  moral  im- 
pression on  the  outside  world,  nor  indeed  for  the  mere  joy  of 
fellowship.  It  involves  no  compromise  of  personal  conviction. 
It  requires  no  "judicious  silence,"  and  no  suppression  of  honest 
opinion, 

5.  The  Federation  gives  new  opportunity  for  a  more  thorough 
study,  a  larger  knowledge  and  a  more  genuine,  generous  and  just 
judgment  of  the  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  points  for  which  we 
have  in  the  past  stood — all  of  us — with  such  tenacity,  fidelity  and 
sometimes  with  a  genuine  heroism. 

6.  The  Federation  implies  a  common  faith  in  a  divine  reve- 
lation, a  divine  spirit,  through  whom  come  energies  from  a  spirit- 
ual world  creating  in  us  who  believe  a  divine  life.  And  our  very 
faith  is  a  sort  of  first-fruit  of  that  life. 

7.  While  the  Federation  will  not  diminish  in  the  faintest 
degree  our  denominational  enthusiasm  and  effort — ^but  rather  in- 
crease both — there  must  grow  out  of  this  fellowship  a  wise  econ- 
omy in  our  work — in  some  cases,  possibly,  the  diverting  of  funds 
used  in  unprofitable  rivalry,  to  a  wise  and  promising  aggressive 
effort. 


614  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

8.  We  cannot  fail  to  see  how  the  Federation  will  promote  the 
spirit  of  an  aggressive  Protestantism — a  gain  greatly  needed  in 
this  day  of  political  activity  by  an  ecclesiastical  organization  that 
has  corrupted  every  region  where  it  has  had  unchallenged  oppor- 
tunity, in  both  hemispheres,  on  all  continents,  and  on  all  the 
islands  of  all  the  seas.  It  is  quite  time  that  the  representatives 
of  primitive  Christianity  should  combine  to  assail  this  mediaeval 
misrepresentation  of  Christ  and  of  His  Church. 

9.  The  Federation  having  recognized  the  value  of  denomi- 
national conditions  and  efforts  every  Church  will  be  encouraged 
to  make  renewed  exertions  to  increase  its  strength  and  extend 
its  work,  keeping  all  the  while  in  mind  the  common  good,  de- 
bating all  questions  fully,  frankly,  fearlessly  and  in  the  heartiness 
of  Christian  love,  and  seeking  to  co-operate  intelligently  and  ef- 
fectively with  all  bodies  of  Christian  believers. 

10.  And  under  the  auspices  of  the  Federation  we  may  realize 
a  noble  unity  in  the  Spiritual  Church — every  denomination  rep- 
resenting a  lofty  column,  a  symbol  of  both  strength  and  beauty. 
And  as  in  our  catholicity  and  love  we  close  our  eyes  for  worship, 
we  shall  by  faith  see  arches  of  light,  of  golden  light,  springing 
from  the  summits  of  all  these  denominational  columns  and  creat- 
ing even  now  a  glorious  dome,  covering  the  temple  of  our  Christ 
— the  Church  of  our  God  in  the  universe. 

One  sole  baptismal  sign. 

One  Lord  below,  above. 
One  faith,  one  hope  divine. 

One  only  watchword — Love; 
From  different  temples  though  it  rise 
One  song  ascendeth  to  the  skies. 

Our  Sacrifice  is  one; 

One  priest  before  the  throne. 
The  slain,  the  risen  Son, 

Redeemer.  Lord  alone; 
Thou  who  didst  raise  Him  from  the  dead 
Unite  Thy  people  in  their  Head. 

Head  of  the  Church  beneath, 

The  Catholic  and  true. 
On  all  her  members  breathe. 

Her  broken  frame  renew. 
Then  shall  Thy  perfect  will  be  done. 
When  Christians  love  and  live  as  one. 


CLOSING  WORDS  615 

I  should  not  be  true  to  my  profoundest  conviction  if  I  did 
not  confess  to  a  serious  regret  that  any  sincere  worshipper  of 
our  Father  in  Heaven  should  be  entirely  excluded  from  this  fel- 
lowship. It  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  some  way  (not  perfectly  clear, 
I  confess  to  ray  own  mind),  every  philanthropist  who  through 
religious  motives  and  by  religious  agencies  seeks  to  promote  so- 
cial reform  might  be  able  to  co-operate  with  us,  whatever  his 
doctrinal  views  concerning  Jesus  of  Nazareth  may  be.  So  long  as 
he  does  really  worship  and  love  and  seek  to  serve  the  God  whom 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  so  fully  revealed  as  our  Heavenly  Father,  and 
so  long  as  he  recognizes  Jesus  as  thus  revealing  God  to  us.  Why 
may  not  such  devout  and  philanthropic  men  and  women  co- 
operate at  least  in  that  part  of  the  work  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
and  of  this  Federation,  that  has  to  do  with  the  relief  of  human 
suffering,  the  suppression  of  human  crime,  the  correcting  of  great 
social  and  political  evils  in  all  of  which  Christ  must  be  inter- 
ested. 

Of  course  the  limitations  of  the  Federation  are  unavoidable 
if  the  evangelical  cooperation  is  to  be  hearty  and  complete.  We 
are  accustomed  everywhere  else  to  such  limitations.  Sharp  lines 
are  drawn  and  rigid  platforms  established  where  political  issues 
are  at  stake,  and  even  where  scientific  experiments  are  made. 
Why  shall  we  not  be  as  intelligently  sensitive  and  careful  when 
we  deal  with  the  most  radical  questions  of  faith,  character  and 
conduct  ?  And  yet  we  all  feel  an  earnest  desire  somehow  to  make 
a  place  here  for  the  "good  Samaritan." 

In  the  closing  words  which  I  have  been  appointed  to  pro- 
nounce there  is  an  important  application  I  desire  to  make.  It  is 
rather  a  question  as  to  how  we  may  make  an  application  of  all 
we  have  here  heard  and  felt  to  the  units  we  represent — the  in- 
dividuals, the  many  millions  of  men,  women  and  children  in  our 
Church  constituency. 

It  is  not  enough  to  fill  the  press  with  accurate  and  glowing 
reports  of  what  has  been  said.  It  is  not  enough  to  make  our 
churches  at  home  echo  with  eloquent  accounts  of  the  suggestions 
here  made,  the  enthusiasm  kindled  and  the  resolutions  adopted. 

Nothing  will  be  of  any  permanent  value  until  unit  after  unit 
— unit  added  to  unit  in  the  wide  reaches  of  our  Church  life  are 
brought  to  feel  personally  and  keenly  the  responsibility  that 
every  believer  must  assume,  if  the  Church  as  a  whole  is  to  do  its 
work  in  the  world.     All  general  movements  are  vain  and  inef- 


01 G  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

fectual  that  do  not  centre  and  settle  in  individual  conviction,  en- 
thusiasm, resolve  and  service.  Printer's  ink  is  cheap ;  paper  may 
be  made  by  the  ton  and  of  straw;  majorities  may  vote  resolutions, 
banners  may  wave,  and  music  fill  the  air — but  nothing  is  worth 
while,  nothing  is  accomplished  until  the  individual  is  reached, 
personality  is  vitalized  by  truth,  possessed  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  devoted  to  the  winning,  redeeming  and  uplifting  of  other 
personalities — until  salvation  as  a  fact  and  a  force  in  the  indi- 
vidual shall  be  realized  in  a  Christian  civilization. 

Do  you  remember  the  remarkable  condition  of  the  Laodicean 
Church  reported  in  the  Eevelation  made  to  John  on  Patmos? 
That  Church  was  a  deceived  and  self-righteous  Church,  saying, 
"I  am  rich  and  increased  in  goods  and  have  need  of  nothing," 
and  not  knowing  that  it  was  '^wretched  and  miserable  and  poor 
and  blind  and  naked."  Of  course  you  know  the  secret  of  this 
deplorable  condition.  It  was  a  Church  with  no  Christ  in  it.  He 
was  on  the  outside  seeking  admission.  But  did  you  ever  notice, 
could  you  fail  to  notice,  the  appointed  process  by  which  the  Christ 
without  proposed  to  come  within?  Not  by  a  plebiscite,  not  by 
the  persuasion  or  on  account  of  an  "honorable  committee"  of  the 
best  men  in  that  communion,  not  by  a  stately  ceremonial,  'organ's 
swell  and  choral  harmony."  Observe  that  it  was  simply  through 
the  consent  of  the  unit.  The  only  way  in  is  by  the  way  of  one: 
"If  any  man  will  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will 
sup  with  him  and  he  with  me."  One  by  one ;  one  after  one.  This 
is  the  one  way  of  blessing  and  saving  a  Church.  The  law  of  the 
saved  unit  is  the  law  of  Church  life.  This  Federation  must  de- 
pend on  the  saving  of  the  individual. 

We  still  need  small  churches  with  large-souled  pastors,  and 
opportunity  for  and  personal  and  profound  delight  on  their  part 
in  the  cure  of  souls — in  the  study  of  souls  one  by  one,  and  again 
one  after  one.  It  is  the  way  of  the  world.  Eailroad  conductors 
go  to  unit  after  unit.  Dentists  take  care  of  units.  Doctors  and 
surgeons  minister  to  units.  Life  insurance  agents  follow  up 
units.  Real  estate  agents  give  persistent  attention  to  units.  The 
best  school  teachers  are  those  who  study  units  that  they  may  train 
them — one  at  a  time. 

So  it  is  with  pastors.  Dare  I  suggest  that  the  most  serious 
defect  of  the  Church  to-day  is  the  lack  of  intelligent,  loving,  dis- 
criminating, faithful  pastors  who  visit  and  study  and  help  and 


THE  GOSPEL  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL  617 

train  individuals,  young  and  old,  giving  counsel,  removing  doubts, 
inspiring  to  personal  faith  and  endeavor. 

The  man  who  preaches  the  greatest — i.  e.,  the  most  helpful 
sermon — is  the  man  who  knows  the  need  of  the  individual  who 
listens  to  him  and  who  cares  for  each  one  with  a  genuine  Christ- 
like love. 

What  the  Koman  Confessional  accomplishes  in  the  way  of 
ecclesiastical  control,  we  do  not  care  to  duplicate,  but  we  suggest 
a  better  and  nobler  work  for  us  to  undertake. 

We  may  forget  the  crowd  and  look  after  individuals,  until 
units  unite  in  an  impressible,  intelligent  and  earnest  company — 
not  attracted  by  oratory,  by  music  nor  by  the  magic  of  numbers, 
but  by  an  eager  desire  and  a  holy  purpose  to  gain  personal  power 
and  opportunity  for  personal  service. 

The  less  alike  people  are  the  more  useful  to  each  other  they 
may  become.  The  Church  to  join  is  not  in  every  case  the  Church 
whose  members  one  happens  to  like  the  best  for  social  or  other 
reasons.  Indeed  it  may  be  the  Church  one  likes  the  least — and 
through  it  one  may  the  better  learn  the  secret  of  self-correction 
and  self-control,  and  thus  be  able  to  render  the  largest  and  worth- 
iest service  to  others.  The  immediate,  pressing  and  imperative 
need  of  the  universal  Christian  Church  to-day  is  an  administra- 
tion that  applies  the  Gospel  (with  the  law  at  the  heart  of  it),  to 
individuals,  and  that  by  individuals,  by  earnest  laymen  and  con- 
secrated pastors,  who  do  more  than  teach  in  public  and  who  ac- 
count a  sermon  and  a  lesson  incomplete  until  it  has  been  applied 
first  and  chiefly  to  each  family  as  a  unit  and  then  to  the  personal 
units  from  whose  faith,  conviction,  resolve  and  prayer  are  to  flow 
the  steady  streams  of  Christian  influence. 

We  Christians  should  be  different  from  other  people.  We 
should  care  more  for  the  poor  and  overworked,  giving  them  more 
constant  attention,  more  sympathy  and  more  help.  Servants  in  a 
Christian  man's  kitchen  should  get  a  better  idea  of  what  religion 
is  than  one  can  get  in  a  worldly  home.  If  they  do  not,  something 
is  wrong  with  the  Christian  type  of  our  civilization,  and  the 
Church  is  not  as  much  needed  as  we  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
thinking. 

The  Church  may  still  work  miracles — miracles  of  reform  and 
restoration  in  individual  lives,  in  family  circles,  and  in  the  wider 
reaches  of  society.  It  is  our  Christian  duty  to  love  and  labor  and 
live  for  the  neighbor — for  adult  believers,  for  children,  for  im- 


618  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

migrants,  for  servants  in  our  kitchens,  for  workmen  in  our  shops 
and  fields,  for  invalids  and  prisoners,  for  strangers,  for  outcasts, 
for  inmates  in  all  charitable  institutions — for  all  classes,  "all  sorts 
and  conditions,''  on  whom  the  eyes  of  the  incarnate  Christ  turn 
with  a  look  of  inquiry  and  of  sympathy. 

Let  us  encourage  immigration,  but  let  us  Christian  people 
receive  and  look  after  these  newcomers.  Let  us  show  them  sym- 
pathy and  win  their  confidence  and  teach  them  the  fundamentals 
of  American  civilization.  It  will  require  but  a  few  friendly  con- 
versations with  individuals  to  do  this. 

It  is  not  so  much  what  kind  of  immigrants  we  receive  as  it 
is  what  we  do  with  them  when  they  arrive.  Let  us  know  these 
people  and  let  them  know  us  as  American  citizens.  A  Eoman 
priest  is  often  a  useful  friend  in  trouble  and  at  death;  but  he 
is  not  always  the  safest  and  wisest  political  counsellor.  Let  us 
and  our  laymen  take  this  matter  in  hand. 

It  would  be  a  profitable  plan  for  the  Federation  to  hold  in 
every  city  "A  Ten  Days'  Mission  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church." 
Let  all  of  our  bells  ring  to  summon  the  people.  Let  able  and 
generous  men  correct  certain  false  impressions  concerning  our 
common  Protestantism.  Let  us  initiate  aggressive  and  generous 
efforts  to  enlighten  the  incoming  multitudes  from  foreign  lands 
as  to  the  real  nature  of  American  loyalty.  Let  us  defend  the 
rights  of  Eoman  and  Eussian  Catholics  in  the  United  States.  Let 
us  stand  by  a  really  American  Eoman  Catholic  Church.  And  if 
Eome  will  not  draw  the  line  let  us  draw  it  for  her. 

Let  us  make  the  Church  of  this  age  both  earnest  and  interest- 
ing. Earnest,  but  not  interesting,  it  may  fail  to  gain  a  first 
and  strong  grip;  interesting,  but  not  earnest,  the  first  grip  may 
so  easily  be  relacsed!  Let  us  cultivate  the  art  of  greeting  the 
neighbor,  whether  church  member  or  not,  with  the  smile  and 
hand  grasp  of  good  neighborship.  Let  us  thus  capture  adults, 
children,  youth,  the  poor,  the  rich,  and  especially  the  foreigners 
who  come  to  us  to  become  American  citizens.  So  welcome  them 
that  they  may  write  to  their  old  neighbors  beyond  the  sea :  "The 
folks  here — especially  the  Christian  folks — professional  men  and 
all — have  a  wonderful  and  winning  way  with  them — a  way  of  wel- 
coming the  stranger,  rich  or  poor,  as  if  in  coming  here  he  were 
coming  home."  When  in  a  church  one  hundred  different  people 
in  the  course  of  a  year  show  an  interest — a  personal  interest — in 
one  and  the  same  child — a  poor  man's  child  mayhap — what  a 


STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  619 

gentle  pressure  of  influence  may  be  brought  to  bear  upon  that 
young  personality — like  atmosphere,  like  sunlight,  like  the  breath 
of  air  from  the  mountains!  And  let  us  have  freedom  of  speech 
and  let  us  give  cowardly  patriots  a  word  of  warning  and  remind 
cheap  politicians  who  wish  to  be  accounted  statesmen  that  they 
cannot  dictate  to  us,  ambassadors  of  Christ  and  descendants  of 
Puritans  and  Huguenots,  what  we  may  or  may  not  say  on  the 
platform,  in  the  press  and  in  the  pulpit. 

There  are  many  discouraging  features  in  our  American  social 
and  Church  life  to-day.  The  lack  of  parental  authority,  the 
neglect  of  proper  restraint,  the  consequent  lack  of  self-control 
among  our  young  people ;  the  disappearance  of  our  American  Sab- 
bath; the  prevalence  of  Sunday  golf,  the  Sunday  paper,  and  the 
automobile ;  the  neglect  of  Bible  study  at  home  and  of  the  family 
altar;  the  increase  of  social  frivolity  with  the  increase  of  wealth; 
the  dishonesty  among  men  in  high  places;  the  astounding  dis- 
regard for  truth  in  courts  of  inquiry — pallid  lips  still  wet  with 
sacramental  wine  pronouncing  ingenious  evasions  if  not  palpable 
falsehoods  in  the  face  of  a  holy  God  and  a  wondering  world. 

And  as  we  go  to  the  unit  in  our  ministrations — to  the  young 
and  the  middle-aged  let  us  not  forget  the  old.  Never  despair 
of  the  old !  It  may  have  required  the  discipline  of  years  to  soften 
into  simplicity  and  teachableness  the  old  man's  soul.  And  it  may 
have  taken  years  of  pride  and  struggle  and  defeat  to  bring  him 
back  again  into  a  state  of  susceptibility;  and  in  "second  child- 
hood" he  may  hear  a  voice  saying,  "Suffer  the  little  children  to 
come  unto  Me.  Except  you  become  as  little  children  you  shall 
not  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God."  Do  not  despise  the  aftermath 
in  God's  garden.  Tender  leaves  may  fittingly  crown  the  wrinkled 
brow.    It  is  never  too  late  to  look  for  God's  mercy. 

The  study  of  the  individual  to  whom  we  go,  perhaps  at  our 
pastor's  request,  on  a  mission  of  service,  will  be  a  revelation  to 
us.  It  will  give  us  a  lesson  in  psychology  and  in  sociology,  and 
as  we  talk  on,  asking  questions  and  becoming  interested,  we  soon 
see  a  strange  and  beautiful  light  in  that  transfigured  face,  and  a 
reverent  awe  falls  upon  us  as  we  realize  that  the  Christ  we  have 
read  about  and  talked  about  and  sung  about  has  Himself  pre- 
ceded us  and  has  already  fulfilled  His  own  promise. 

And  in  all  this  application  we  need  more  energy,  more  posi- 
tiveness,  the  fervor  and  the  force  of  personal  conviction  and  un- 
compromising loyalty  to  righteousness  in  practical  life.    Our  hal- 


620  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

lelujahs  echo  among  the  arches  of  the  cathedrals.  We  need  them 
brought  down  to  the  pavement,  the  pew  and  the  busy  street,  and 
transmuted  into  holy  resolves  and  actual  efforts  where  they  might 
be  of  some  real  service  to  humanity.  And  it  is  persistence  in  our 
devotion  to  others  that  is  needed— the  habit  of  calling,  caring 
and  serving;  the  basal  conviction,  faith  and  love  that  contribute 
to  such  philanthropic  impulse.  The  warmth  and  glow  and  glory 
of  an  open  fire  on  the  hearth  depend  not  upon  occasional  contri- 
butions from  the  box  of  shavings  and  kindling,  but  on  the  big 
back  log  with  its  steady  supply  of  light  and  heat. 

We  need  for  all  this  work  more  personal  heroism  and  a  pro- 
founder  sense  of  personal  responsibility.  Mr.  Huxley  says,  "Per- 
haps the  most  valuable  result  of  all  education  is  the  ability  to 
make  yourself  do  the  thing  you  have  to  do,  when  it  ought  to  be 
done,  as  it  ought  to  be  done,  whether  you  like  to  do  it  or  not." 
J.  Stuart  Mill  says,  "The  education  of  the  will  is  the  object  of 
our  existence— a  character  is  a  completely  finished  will."  Cer- 
tainly the  laws  of  grace  are  in  harmony  with  this  view  of  personal 
responsibility.  How  may  we  most  effectually  bring  the  enthusiasm 
kindled  by  the  Conference  to  bear  directly  upon  the  people?  Reso- 
lutions to  be  effective  must  be  repeated  by  the  individual  will. 
Doxologies  that  do  not  develop  into  deeds  would  better  remain 
unsung.  Good  will  that  warms  the  heart,  though  it  express  itself 
in  storms  of  praise,  is  wasted  if  it  does  not  become  strength  of 
will  in  personal  faith  and  achievement.  We  need  courage  that 
we  may  not  wait  for  public  sentiment  but  go  to  and  make  public 
sentiment.  Let  each  man  devote  himself  to  his  next  neighbor — 
the  neighbor  most  needing  sympathy,  recognition  and  aid,  and  the 
other  neighbor  needing  faithful  words  of  warning  or  rebuke,  not 
forgetting  the  third  neighbor  who  needs  bread,  a  word  of  cheer 
and  the  open  door  of  opportunity.  Thus  will  the  torch  of  our 
Federation  light  a  million  fires  and  fill  the  world  with  the  grace 
that  saves  soul  after  soul  and  silently  establishes  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ  on  the  earth. 


RECEPTION  TO  THE  DELEGATES  TO  THE 
CONFERENCE 


Tuesday  Evening,  November  Twenty-first 


ADDRESS 
The  Hon.  M.  Linn  Bruce,  Chairman 


The  pleasing  and  simple  duty  of  presiding*  upon  this  occasion 
and  of  extending  to  you,  on  behalf  of  the  Social  Unions  of  the 
Churches  of  our  city,  a  cordial  welcome  and  hearty  congratulations 
upon  the  splendid  success  of  the  Conference,  has  been  accorded  me. 
Sooner  or  later  most  great  men  and  all  great  movements  come  to 
Kew  York.  We  are  a  big  town,  and  we  are  accustomed  to  big 
things.  We  have  some  big  things  which,  of  course,  we  wish  we  did 
not  have,  but  we  have  them.  We  have  endeavored  to  get  rid  of 
them,  but  the  poor  and  Tammany  we  have  always  with  us.  We 
have  determined  that  we  would  not,  and  we  have  thought  that  we 
had  accomplished  results  that  would  forever  rid  us  of  some  big 
things ;  like  the  man,  you  remember,  in  New  York,  who  got  a  tele- 
gram from  San  Francisco,  saving  that  his  mother-in-law  was  dead. 
It  read,  "Shall  we  embalm,  cremate  or  bury  ?"  He  hastened  a  tele- 
gram back,  "Embalm,  cremate  and  bury.  Take  no  chances";  but 
they  are  still  with  us. 

The  great  fleet  in  the  North  River,  the  visit  of  a  prince,  the 
horse  show,  where  the  horses  are  so  unselfish  and  so  patient,  a 
dentist  that  charges  one  hundred  dollars  an  hour,  are  the  mere  in- 
cidents of  a  week  in  New  York.  But  we  really  feel  a  great  honor 
has  been  conferred  upon  our  city  by  its  having  been  selected  for  the 
inaugural  meeting  of  this  great  movement,  a  movement  for  which 
the  fathers  in  the  centuries  gone  looked  and  for  which  they  devoutly 
prayed.  It  is  one  of  the  most  significant  facts  of  the  twentieth 
century,  this  great  Federation  of  these  mighty  Christian  bodies.  It 
is  the  dawning  of  a  glorious  day,  full  of  hope,  and  which  we  believe 
is  destined  to  continue  until  the  coming  of  the  perfect  day.  It  is 
not  a  destruction  of  companies,  or  of  battalions,  or  of  regiments,  or 
of  brigades,  or  of  divisions,  or  of  army  corps;  it  is  rather  a  new 
alignment,  the  formation  of  a  new  line  of  battle  for  a  new  advance, 
so  that  it  may  be  said  in  truth,  "Like  a  mighty  army  moves  the 
Church  of  God,"  going  forward  conquering  and  to  conquer,  until 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  Our  Lord 
and  of  His  Christ.  We  are  all  glad,  therefore,  that  you  came  to 
New  York;  we  rejoice  that  this  great  city,  the  commercial,  the 
financial  and  the  industrial  centre  of  the  country,  is  to  be  the  point 

623 


624  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

from  which  this  movement  is  to  go  forward.  We  do  not  believe 
that  it  is  merely  a  spasmodic  movement;  we  bfeiieve  that  it  is  a 
growth,  a  development,  the  ripe  fruit  of  long  years  of  labor,  con- 
ceived by  intelligent  men,  organized  and  guided  by  men  of  wide  dis- 
tinction and  sound  judgment. 

We  believe  that  it  means  much  for  the  Church,  and  that  which 
means  much  for  the  Church  means  much  for  the  home,  means 
much  for  the  community,  means  much  for  the  city,  means  much 
for  the  State,  much  for  the  nation.  I  tell  you,  my  friends,  when 
the  Christian  people  of  this  country  unite,  touch  elbows,  stand 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  and  go  forward  for  the  accomplishing  of  any 
purpose,  it  is  bound  to  come.  Before  such  an  advance  polygamy 
must  go  down,  lax  divorce  laws  must  go  down,  intemperance  must 
go  down.  We  can  have  in  this  country  just  the  body  of  law  and 
just  the  kind  of  government  that  we  want,  and  the  kind  of  govern- 
ment we  have  is  the  kind  of  government  we  deserve.  If  things 
are  not  what  they  ought  to  be  in  the  Church  or  in  the  State,  there 
is  no  one  to  blame  for  it  but  the  Christian  people  themselves,  be- 
cause the  good  outnumber  the  bad  everywhere. 

Now,  of  course,  it  is  not  the  province  of  the  Chairman  to  make 
a  speech,  but  he  always  does ;  that  is  the  reason  I  am  making  one. 
But,  really,  I  am  here  simply  to  introduce  the  distinguished  gentle- 
men who  are  to  do  the  real  speaking.  I  said  at  the  outset  that 
most  great  men  come  to  New  York,  and  1  am  going  to  offer  the 
first  evidence.  It  is  not  very  often  that  we  have  the  opportunity  of 
listening  to  a  man  who  preaches  every  Sunday  to  "four  hundred 
millions"  in  one  pew ;  but  whether  praising  God  with  the  Laird  of 
Skibo,  or  preaching  to  Reformed  Dutchmen  on  Fifth  avenue,  or 
giving  a  cup  of  cold  water  in  His  name,  wherever  he  is,  he  is  always 
our  own  Dr.  Mackay. 


ADDRESS    EXTENDING    THE    WELCOME    OF    THE 

SOCIAL  UNIONS  AND  CHURCH  CLUBS  OF 

THE   CITY  TO   THE  CONFERENCE 


The  Rev.  Donald  Sage  Mackay,  D.D. 


Lieutenant-Governor  Bruce,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen ; 

We  thank  you,  sir,  for  your  presence  here  this  evening,  and  for 
the  inspiring  and  kindly  words  which  you  have  spoken.  I  do  not 
know  that  there  is  very  much  left  for  the  clergy  to  say  after  these 
pungent  remarks  from  our  Lieutenant-Governor.  In  these  days, 
however,  when  political  federation  seems  to  be  becoming  as  popular 
as  ecclesiastical  federation,  we  are  glad  to  have  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  here  to-night,  that  he  may  see  what  the  obliteration  of 
denominational  lines  is  going  to  do,  and  it  may  be  what  the  obliter- 
ation of  some  other  lines,  political  or  otherwise,  may  also  do  for 
the  good  of  the  city.  However  that  may  be,  I  realize  that  the  task 
with  which  I  have  been  intrusted  this  evening  is  a  very  delightful 
one,  although  somewhat  complicated.  I  have  to  bear  to  our  friends 
and  delegates  who  have  honored  us  by  their  presence  a  message  of 
cordial  greeting  and  good  veill,  freighted  with  Methodist  fire,  Baptist 
zeal,  Presbyterian  warmth.  Episcopalian  sweetness  and  light.  Con- 
gregational culture,  Fellowship  of  the  Disciples  Union,  and  Dutch 
Reformed — well,  all  the  other  things  combined!  The  Collegiate 
Church  loves  to  think  of  herself  (whether  anybody  else  does  or  not) 
as  the  mother  church  of  the  city,  and  she  likes  to  claim  all  the 
virtues  of  her  children.  As  for  their  vices,  she  leaves  well  enough 
alone.  For  myself,  I  suppose  one  who  was  born  a  Scotch  Presby- 
terian, who  was  ordained  a  New  England  Congregationalist,  and 
now,  in  the  process  of  ecclesiastical  evolution,  having  seen  the  error 
of  my  ways,  have  become  a  Reformed  Dutchman  (and  by  the 
tenure  of  the  Collegiate  Church  likely  to  remain  so) ,  it  is  especially 
pleasant  for  me  to  voice  this  many  tongued  welcome  to  the  dele- 
gates and  friends  who  have  come  to  this  great  Conference. 

It  is  true  that  I  feel  Just  a  little  sympathy  with  the  description 
which  an  old  Scotch  lady  gave  of  her  minister  one  day.  He  was 
not  much  to  look  at.  She  said :  "Oh,  he's  a  puir  body  to  see  him 
in  the  street  on  a  weekday ;  but  he's  a  most  divertin'  character  in  the, 

625 


626  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

pulpit  on  Sunday."  My  Brother  Tupper  here  said  he  would  much 
rather  be  in  a  pulpit  to-night  than  on  this  platfonn,  but  he  is  a 
perfect  genius  at  this  sort  of  tiling,  as  you  shall  hear.  We  have 
both  together  on  previous  occasions  voiced  the  sentiments  of  Church 
Federation.  Yet,  my  friends,  we  are  witnessing  to-night  in  this 
magnificent  assembly  the  culmination  of  one  of  the  most  impressive 
and  significant  religious  gatherings  in  the  history  of  our  city,  and, 
for  that  matter,  of  our  country.  I  for  one  am  optimistic  enough 
to  believe  that  this  Inter-Church  Conference  just  closed  will  yet 
mark  in  the  religious  history  of  America  a  distinct  step  forward 
towards  the  realization  of  that  soul-stirring  spectacle  of  a  reunited 
Church,  marshalled  in  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  to  combat  and  conquer 
the  world  for  Christ. 

I  cannot  let  tliis  moment  pass  without  expressing  for  myself, 
and  for  you,  our  profound  appreciation  of  the  unwearied  efforts  of 
Dr.  Sanford  and  of  Dr.  Eoberts  and  their  active  associates  in  bring- 
ing about  so  magnificent  a  result.  They  deserve  the  cordial  thanks 
of  the  community  for  all  the  faith  and  toil  wliich  they  have  put 
into  this  Federation  during  these  months  past.  And  we  also,  in 
welcoming  the  delegates  and  their  friends  here  to-night,  desire  to 
express  our  thanks  for  their  presence  and  cooperation  in  carrying 
out  the  program  and  in  adding  to  the  profit  and  success  of  these 
meetings.  We  are  thankful  for  your  coming  to  our  city ;  we  believe 
that  you  have  brought  to  us  a  fresh  inspiration,  and  as  you  go  from 
us  we  bid  you  Godspeed  in  the  hope  that  we  shall  meet,  even  in  a 
larger  Federation,  three  years  hence,  when  the  policies  that  have 
been  shaped  during  this  past  week  shall  pass  into  the  life  and 
activities  of  our  Churches. 

Some  of  you  who  were  present  at  the  closing  meeting  of  the 
great  Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference  in  Carnegie  Hall,  five 
years  ago,  will  scarcely  forget  the  remarkable  closing  address  that 
was  delivered  by  that  radiant  soul,  Maltbie  Babcock.  Standing 
there  face  to  face  with  that  vast  audience,  there  was  one  memorable 
sentence  which  fell  from  his  lips  just  a  minute  or  so  before  he  took 
his  seat.  He  said :  "Fellow  Christians,  we  can  never  be  the  same 
after  this  Conference;  either  we  are  going  back  to  wilful  disobe- 
dience, or  we  are  going  forward  to  new  and  truer  service."  My 
friends,  it  seems  to  me  that  these  words,  in  measure  at  least,  have 
a  message  for  this  Conference  just  ended.  There  is  a  profound 
sense  in  which  the  Churches  which  have  participated  in  it  can  never 
be  the  same  after  it;  either  we  are  going  back  deliberately  to  our 


WELCOME  OF  THE  SOCIAL    UNIONS  OF  THE   CITY       627 

denominational  narrowness  and  sectarian  bitterness  or  we  are  going 
forward  to  a  larger,  broader  sense  of  our  kinship  in  Jesus  Christ. 

What  is  the  use  of  talking  about  the  fatherhood  of  God  if  we 
are  not  willing  to  realize  our  human  brotherhood  in  Jesus  Christ? 
Thanksgiving  Day  next  week  will  be  (or  would  be)  a  sad  and  tragic 
day  to  many  of  us  parents  here  if  our  scattered  children  should 
vrrite  home  protesting  their  love  for  us,  but  refusing  to  meet 
together  and  share  the  family  meal  around  a  common  board;  and 
yet  that  has  been  and — Heaven  forgive  us ! — is  to  a  certain  extent 
the  stigma  of  our  Churches  before  God  to-day.  The  scandal  of  our 
religion  has  been  the  unholy  spectacle  of  a  competitive  Christianity 
usurping  the  place  of  an  aggressive  Christianity,  one  religious  com- 
munion struggling  with  another  for  supremacy  and  for  power. 
Let  us  not  forget  that  while  competition  may  be  the  soul  of 
business  it  is  the  death  of  spirituality.  Aggressive  Christian- 
ity is  the  spirit  of  the  kingdom,  but  competitive  Christianity  is  the 
temper  of  the  bigot.  We  have  rejoiced  in  these  meetings  in  the 
thought  of  the  cordial  good  will  and  sjnipathy  towards  this  whole 
Federation  movement  on  the  part  of  our  Christian  President,  Theo- 
dore Roosevelt.  Dr.  Cady,  Dr.  Sanford  and  others  will  remember 
how,  three  years  ago,  in  waiting  upon  the  President  on  this  matter 
of  Federation,  he  used  this  sentence :  "Remember,  my  friends,"  he 
said,  "that  there  are  plenty  of  targets  for  you  to  shoot  straight  at 
without  firing  into  each  other."     And  these  words  are  true. 

Now,  then,  we  are  asking  ourselves  to-night,  as  the  aftermath 
of  this  Conference,  what  are  some  of  the  things  that  have  been 
vindicated  by  the  discussions  in  Carnegie  Hall?  I  am  not  going 
to  canvass  all  the  topics  that  have  passed  in  review;  and  if  I  can 
help  it  I  am  not  going  to  trespass  to-night  upon  controversial 
ground.  And  yet  it  seems  to  me  that  the  Conference  has  vindicated 
one  supreme  need  in  the  life  of  all  our  Protestant  churches;  and 
what  is  that  need?  The  need  of  a  great  central  focus  point  at 
which  our  Protestant  communions  can  meet  on  common  ground 
and  where  unity  can  be  fused,  without  destroying  individual  iden- 
tity, into  uplifting  reality.  We  all  know  that  the  lack  of  such  a 
centre  of  common  fellowship  has  been  charged — and  justly — as  the 
distinctive  weakness  of  Protestantism,  that  its  centrifugal  energies 
have  depleted  its  centripetal  strength. 

Now,  where  will  we  find  that  focus  point  of  union?  Shall  we 
look  for  it  in  a  common  creed  ?  Impossible.  Shall  we  seek  it  in  a 
uniform  ritual?     Useless.     Shall  we  try  to  build  it  up  out  of  a 


628  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

vast  organization?  It  is  a  futile  dream.  The  Eoman  Catholic 
points  with  pardonable  pride,  with  just  pride,  to  the  Vatican  as 
the  visible  centre  of  authority  for  his  Church,  where  the  scattered 
children  over  all  the  world  may  meet  on  a  common  ground.  Where 
shall  the  Protestant  Churches,  with  their  scattered  influence  and 
ineffective  efforts,  find  their  point  of  vantage?  This  Conference 
has  vindicated  the  need  of  some  such  point  of  meeting,  and  I  say, 
with  deepest  conviction,  the  focus  point  at  which  Protestantism 
must  meet  in  this  twentieth  century  is  in  loyal  acknowledgment  of 
the  Divine  kingship  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  supreme  Head  of  His 
Church.  In  the  acknowledgment  of  that  kingship  of  Christ  we  shall 
find  the  one  common  ground  where  controversy  is  surely  silent,  and 
where  differences  fade  before  the  warmth  of  His  love.  "One  is 
your  Master  and  all  ye  are  brethren'^  must  be  the  charter  of  our 
Christian  Federation.  President  Fairbairn  of  Oxford  has  said  in 
his  great  book,  "The  Modern  Christ,"  that  the  greatest  discovery 
of  the  nineteenth  century  was  the  rediscovery  of  Christ ;  and  it  was 
well.  It  was  surely  something  gained  that  we  should  pass  out  of 
the  tangle  of  scholastic  theology  and  get  back  to  the  serene  figure 
of  the  historic  Christ,  uplifted  above  the  mists  of  metaphysical 
discussion. 

But  it  seems  to  me  that  the  supreme  achievement  for  the  twen- 
tieth century  must  be  the  reenthronement  of  the  authority  of 
Christ  in  every  line  of  human  conduct.  Until  we  realize  anew  the 
authority  of  the  Living  One,  our  religious  life  becomes  but  a  maze 
of  competitive,  revolutionary  and  divergent  effort  which  tend  to 
defeat  the  common  object  we  have  in  view. 

We  heard  much  a  few  years  ago  of  the  cry  "Back  to  Christ," 
back  to  the  historic  Christ.  And  that,  too,  was  well.  But  the  cry 
for  to-day  is  "Forward  to  the  Living  Christ,"  forward  to  where 
He  the  Living  One  leads  us  upward  to  higher  planes  of  service  and 
of  duty.  We  hear  much  to-day  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  We 
are  told  that  the  idea  of  the  kingdom  is  a  richer,  a  larger  and 
more  fruitful  idea  than  that  of  the  Church,  and  it  may  be  so,  but 
let  us  take  care  lest  in  our  passion  for  the  kingdom  we  forget  our 
allegiance  to  the  King.  There  can  be  no  true  coming  of  Christ's 
Elingdom  upon  the  earth  until  the  enthronement  of  Christ  Himself 
as  King  within  His  Church.  Wlien  we  acknowledge  the  Kingliness 
of  Christ,  there  will  be  no  tarrying  in  the  Christlikeness  of  His 
Kingdom. 

Now,  I  am  so  sure  of  the  divinity,  the  deity  of  my  Lord  and 


WELCOME  OF  THE  SOCIAL   UNIONS   OF  THE   CITY       629 

Saviour,  that  I  am  willing  in  that  spirit  to  federate  with  any  one, 
be  he  Brahmin,  Hindoo  or  Hottentot,  if  he  will  acknowledge,  how- 
ever imperfectly,  however  ineffectively,  this  authority  of  Christ,  and 
is  willing  to  cooperate  with  me  for  the  common  cause  of  our 
redeemed  humanity.  If  I  were  not  sure  of  the  divinity  of  Christ 
I  should  hesitate ;  if  I  were  not  fully  persuaded  of  His  place  in  this 
world  as  its  living  ppirit,  I  should  be  content  to  shut  myself  up  in 
the  narrowest  sect  that  I  could  find,  and  I  do  not  know  any  nar- 
rower sect  than  that  which  bears  the  name  of  the  ^'Wee  Frees"  in 
Scotland — any  little  sect,  in  fact,  that  wants  to  claim  for  itself  a 
monopoly  of  Cod  and  desires  to  turn  over  the  salvation  of  the  race 
into  the  hands  of  a  close  corporation  with  its  headquarters  some- 
where in  New  Jersey  or  in  Scotland.  But  because  I  am  so  sure  of 
the  livingness  of  the  Divine  Christ  and  His  word,  I  am  willing  to 
be  tolerant  to  the  utmost  limit  of  toleration  and  to  stretch  out 
hands  of  welcome  to  all  who  will  meet  us  on  that  ground;  and  if 
on  that  ground  they  are  unwilling  to  meet  us,  then  theirs,  not 
ours,  be  the  responsibility. 

Now,  there  are  just  four  notes  that  in  this  movement  toward 
Federation  we  ought  to  strike,  and  in  mentioning  these  I  close  this 
address.  One  is  the  note  of  mutual  recognition;  the  second  is  the 
note  of  mutual  forbearance;  the  third,  the  note  of  mutual  service, 
and  the  fourth,  the  note  of  mutual  prayer.  When  our  Churches 
meet  upon  these  four  fundamental  truths,  of  mutual  recognition  of 
each  other  as  organic  parts  of  the  Church  Catholic,  of  mutual  for- 
bearance of  each  other  in  their  common  efforts  and  forbearing  from 
criticism,  and  of  mutual  service,  working  together  for  common  ends 
in  the  face  of  overwhelming  problems  that  are  surrounding  us  in 
society  to-day,  and,  lastly,  in  mutual  prayer — we  shall  make  Feder- 
ation the  most  influential  thought  in  the  religious  life  of  our  coun- 
try. I  plead  for  mutual  prayer.  The  recommendation  has  been 
that  once  a  year  we  should  devote  preaching  services  to  this  subject 
of  Christian  unity;  but  we  cannot  forget,  can  we,  friends,  that  our 
Saviour  met  it  upon  his  knees?  When  that  eucharistic  prayer, 
that  has  become  an  obsession  for  some  of  His  disciples  to-day,  that 
they  might  all  be  one,  as  He  and  the  Father  were  one — when  that 
prayer  passed  from  His  lips,  it  was  when  upon  His  knees  under 
the  shadow  of  the  cross  He  faced  His  sacrifice,  not  lightly,  not 
thoughtlessly,  but  in  the  profound  spirit  of  supplication  for 
guidance  from  on  high. 

Let  the  Christian  people  of  America  realize  that  this  is  the  hour 


630  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

of  a  great  opportunity.  Too  long  the  dissensions  that  held  ns 
apart  have  worked  their  havoc.  The  needs  are  tremendous.  At 
our  doors  new  problems  are  knocking  for  admission,  and  only  in 
the  imity  of  the  Churches,  loyal  to  their  traditions,  still  preserving 
their  identity,  yet  fused  by  the  love  of  Christ  and  loyal  to  His 
kingship,  shall  they  pass  forward  to  victory. 


RESPONSE  ON   BEHALF   OF  THE    DELEGATES 


The   Rev.  Kerr  Boyce  Tupper,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


I  count  myself  happy  in  being  permitted  to  make  a  brief  re- 
sponse to  the  very  earnest  and  fraternal  words  just  spoken  by  my 
two  predecessors.  I  am  glad  to  respond  to  our  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, whom,  after  hearing  to-night  in  his  brilliant  address,  so 
full  of  intelligent  Christian  optimism,  I  shall  delight  hereafter  to 
place  in  the  Temple  of  Fame  by  the  side  of  Governor  Folk  and 
Mayor  Weaver. 

And  then  what  shall  I  say  about  Dr.  Mackay?  He  is  right 
in  telling  you  that  I  am  frightened  to-night.  Some  years  ago  I 
asked  one  of  my  former  parishioners  about  my  successor  in  the 
pulpit  in  a  certain  city.  The  good  man  paused  a  moment,  and 
then  said  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye:  "He  is  a  very  fine  preacher, 
but  when  he  is  out  of  the  pulpit  he  isn't  in  it."  And  that  is  the 
way  with  a  good  many  of  us.  We  are  far  more  at  home  in  our 
pulpits  than  on  platforms.  I  am  very  glad,  also,  to  respond  to  a 
man  who  can  make  four  points.  Did  you  notice  that?  Most 
preachers  in  their  speeches  make  only  three  points,  their  favorite 
divisions,  "In  the  first  place,  in  the  second  place,  in  the  third  place." 
I  heard  of  a  young  theologue  so  homiletically  trained  that  when 
he  went  courting  he  delivered  himself  thus:  "First,  will  you 
marr}'?  Second,  will  you  marry  me?  Third,  will  you  marry  me, 
a  preacher  ?"  And  he  got  his  girl,  as  most  preachers  do  when  they 
try  hard.  By  the  use  of  three  heads  he  became  the  possessor  of 
two.  I  am  pleased  that  you  saw  that  fine  point.  It  is  grati- 
fying for  another  reason  to  reply  to  Dr.  Mackay.  He  has 
told  us  to-night  that  he  has  ecclesiastically  been  moving  all  his 
Christian  life  according  to  a  beautiful  process  of  evolution :    First, 


RESPONSE   ON  BEHALF  OF  THE  DELEGATES  631 

Presbyterian;  next,  Congregational;  next,  Dutch  Eeformed.  He  is 
bound  some  day,  getting  better  with  every  movement,  to  be  a  Bap- 
tist. 

That  beautiful  and  tender  reference  by  Dr.  Mackay  to  Dr. 
Babcock  brought  to  my  mind  something  I  read  a  few  years  ago 
from  the  pen  of  George  Dana  Boardman.  With  characteristic  lib- 
erality and  grace  he  gave  expression  to  this  noble  sentiment :  "The 
time  will  come,  in  the  development  of  the  years,  when  the  Chris- 
tian world  will  see,  with  gladdened  vision,  that  there  is  ample  room 
in  the  Christian  Church  for  Episcopal  jestheticism  and  Presbyterian 
theology  and  Methodist  activity  and  Quaker  passivity  and  Congre- 
gational polity,  and  Baptist  independence."  Thank  God  you  and 
I  see  that  glad  and  glorious  day  at  the  close  of  this  Convention. 
It  seems  to  me  that  this  splendid  Convention  is  unique.  Represent- 
ing, as  it  does,  twenty-seven  different  Christian  denominations  and 
eighteen  million  Christian  communicants,  and  with  a  Church  aflfilia- 
tion  of  seventv'-five  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  of  the  United 
States,  it  stands  for  the  Church  universal  as  above  the  Church  local ; 
the  Church  organic  as  above  the  Church  organized ;  the  Church  im- 
mortal as  above  the  Church  mortal;  the  Church  invisible  as  above 
the  Church  visible,  and  the  Church  born  of  God  as  above  the 
Church  constructed  of  man.  Is  it  not  true  that  more  and  more 
we  are  realizing  the  prayer  of  our  Master,  "That  they  all  may  be 
one,  as  thou  art,  Father,  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  all 
may  be  one  in  us?"'  Xo  organic  union  is  here  meant,  as  Dr. 
Mackay  has  well  said — for  such  is  not  the  union  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  they  are  distinct  personalities,  separate  individualities,  but 
rather  a  unity  of  heart,  a  unity  of  sentiment,  a  unity  of  sym- 
pathy, a  unity,  spiritual,  eternal,  indissoluble — a  unity  which 
leads  us  to  unite  our  hands  and  hearts  in  the  great  work  of  God, 
and  to  say  with  joy  to  every  man  that  loves  Jesus  Christ,  "Thou  art 
my  brother,  and  God  is  our  common  Father." 

The  reference  made  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor  to  our  stand- 
ing shoulder  to  shoulder  brought  to  my  mind — I  told  Dr.  Mackay 
at  the  beginning  of  my  address  that  I  was  glad  that  I  came  last, 
for  these  men  would  give  me  some  thoughts  and  some  suggestions — 
Governor  Bruce's  reference  brought  to  my  mind  one  of  the  most 
splendid  pictures  that  Lord  Macaulay  has  ever  given  us.  Even  in 
the  trial  of  Warren  Hastings  you  will  find  nothing  finer  from  this 
gifted  essayist's  pen  than  his  description  of  the  Battle  of  Blenheim 
— how  the  allies,  before  their  attack  against  France,  prayed  a.part, 


632  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

but  during  the  attack  fought  shoulder  to  shoulder  until  the  victory 
came,  and  French  intrigue  and  greed  and  pride  were  humbled  in 
the  dust.  Blenheim,  gentlemen  and  ladies,  was  won  because  the 
allied  troops  were  one.  So  shall  it  be  with  us.  I  have  no  sym- 
pathy with  that  boneless,  nerveless,  flaccid  liberality  which  says  it 
makes  no  difference  what  a  man  believes  just  so  he  is  going  to 
heaven.  That  isn't  catholicity;  that  is  pseudo-catholicity.  I 
believe  in  the  man  that  believes  in  what  he  believes  in.  That  is 
the  only  kind  of  a  man  that  has  ever  done  anything.  Truth  is 
no  commodity  to  be  exchanged  at  will ;  when  genuine,  it  is  untrans- 
ferable, unchangeable,  always  incorruptible.  Let  every  one  of  us 
have  his  strong  denominational  convictions,  let  every  one  of  us 
have  his  beautiful  ecclesiastical  relationships  and  affiliations,  and 
that  will  no  more  interfere  with  our  harmony  and  cooperation 
than  the  organism  of  the  sun  interferes  with  its  shining,  or  the 
wings  of  a  bird  interfere  with  its  flying;  if  only,  as  Dr.  Mackay 
has  said,  we  make  Jesus  Christ  the  centre. 

I  doubt  if  the  Apostle  Paul  ever  uttered  a  more  magnificent 
sjentence  than  when  he  said,  "AH  things  are  yours,  whether  Paul 
(the  apostle  of  advance)  or  ApoUos  (the  apostle  of  eloquence)  or 
Cephas  (the  apostle  of  fervor) — all  are  yours,  and  ye  are  Christ's." 
That  is  the  centre,  that  is  the  bond,  that  is  the  inspiration  of  our 
union.  There  is  one  saving  arm  we  all  love  to  lean  on,  the  arm 
everlasting;  there  is  one  fi:xed  star  that  we  all  take  our  reckoning 
from,  the  Star  of  Bethlehem ;  there  is  one  divine  name  that  we  all 
love  to  wear,  the  name  of  Christ.  We  may  differ  speculatively, 
but  we  can  never  differ  essentially  if  we  all  subscribe  to  this  one 
thing,  the  supremacy  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  world's  Sovereign  and 
the  world's  Saviour,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh,  the  outflashing  of 
the  Father's  splendor.  Light  of  Light,  Very  God  of  very  God. 

I  saw  in  one  of  our  papers  yesterday  the  statement  from  a 
gentleman  of  culture,  "I  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  son  of 
God,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  was  God  the  Son." 
Then  that  man  cannot  federate  with  us.  We  must  believe  not  only 
in  the  divinity  of  Christ  but  in  the  deity-hood  of  Christ,  and  when- 
ever we  do  that  we  break  all  of  our  swords  of  controversy  as  we 
bow  at  the  pierced  feet  of  God's  Son  and  Mary's  Son,  and  there, 
giving  Him  the  first  place  in  our  hearts  and  the  chief  niche  in 
our  theology,  offer  up  the  words  of  Thomas,  "My  Lord  and  my 
God."  That  is  our  inspiration,  the  Master,  the  Christ  of  glory, 
the  Eedeemer  of  the  world. 


RESPONSE  ON  BEHALF  OF  THE  DELEGATES  633 

I  want  to  bring  before  you— and  this  is  the  only  part  of  my 
speech  I  have  prepared  in  advance,  determined  to  catch  inspiration 
to-night  from  Governor  Bruce  and  Dr.  Mackay— I  want  to  em- 
phasize how  wonderfully  we  federate  when  we  come  to  sing  to- 
gether. We  may  preach  unlike,  but  we  always  sing  alike.  We 
delight  to  sing  with  the  Methodist  Wesley, 

Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul, 
Let  me  to  Thy  bosom  fly ; 

and  with  the  Episcopal  Toplady, 

Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  Thee; 

and  with  the  Congregational  Palmer, 

My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee, 
Thou  Lamb  of  Calvary, 
Saviour  divine; 

and  with  the  Presbyterian  Bonar, 

Glory  be  to  God  the  Father; 
Glory  be  to  God  the  Son; 
Glory  be  to  God  the  Spirit, 
Great  Jehovah,  Three  in  One; 

and  with  the  Reformed  Luther, 

A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God, 
A  bulwark  never  failing; 

and  with  the  Catholic  Newman  (but  it  was  before  he  became  a 
Catholic), 

Lead,  kindly  Light,  amid  the  encircling  gloom. 
Lead  Thou  me  on; 

and  with  the  Moravian  Zinzendorf, 

Jesus,  still  lead  on 
Until  our  victory's  won; 

and  with  the  Quaker  Barton, 

He  dwells  in  cloudless  light  enshrined; 

and  with  the  "Unitarian  Bowring— would  to  God  all  Unitarians 
would  sing  as  he  sang — 

In  the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory, 
Towering  o'er  the  wrecks  of  time ; 
All  the  light  of  sacred  story 
Gathers  round  its  Head  sublime- 


634  CHURCH  FEDERATION 

and  with  the  Baptist  Fawcett, 

Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 
Our  hearts  in  Christian  love; 
The  fellowship  of  kindred  minds 
Is  like  to  that  above. 

And  then,  forgetting  all  of  our  denominational  names  and  all 
of  our  denominational  songs,  as  did  the  allies  on  the  battlefield 
of  Blenheim,  we  march  together  singing,  as  we  move  to  a  victory, 
glorious  and  eternal. 

Like  a  mighty  army  moves  the  Church  of  God; 
Brothers,  we  are  treading  vphere  our  fathers  trod; 
We  are  not  divided,  all  one  army  we. 
One  in  hope  and  doctrine,  one  in  charity. 

God  give  us  this  might  and  irresistible  Christian  union ! 


BISHOP  JOHN   H.  VINCENT,  D.D.,  LL.l).  REV.  J.  KOSS   STEVENSON,  D.D. 


MR.  W.  C.  STOEVER 


REV.  J.  ADDISON   HENRY,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


REPORTS  OF  COMMITTEES 


REPORTS  OF    COMMITTEES 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  PROGRAMME. 

The  Committee  on  Programme  held  numerous  meetings,  and  care- 
fully considered  the  topics  and  the  speal^ers  assigned  to  them.  No  sub- 
stantial report  can  be  given  beyond  the  Programme  itself  as  it  was 
finally  completed  and  published-  The  Committee  would  express  their 
gratitude  to  those  who  accepted  the  positions  assigned  to  them;  and 
it  Is  with  great  satisfaction  that  they  can  report  that  with  scarcely  an 
exception  the  Programme  was  fully  carried  out.  The  Committee  was 
careful  to  allow  ample  space  for  business,  recognizing  that,  however 
valuable  the  addresses  might  be,  the  Conference  had  yet  come  together 
for  important  business  with  which  public  addresses  must  not  interfere. 
William  Hayes  Wabd,  Chairman. 


REPORT  OF  THE  HOSPITALITY  COMMITTEE. 

The  Hospitality  Committee  begs  to  report  that  generous  entertain- 
ment was  proffered  every  delegate  to  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on 
Federation  for  the  entire  period  of  the  Conference,  and  that  this  enter- 
tainment, which  was  largely  furnished  in  high-class  hotels,  was  seem- 
ingly satisfactory  to  the  many  delegates  who  honored  the  Committee 
by  accepting  its  hospitality.  The  Committee  also  would  gratefully 
acknowledge  the  courtesy  of  many  other  delegates  who  elected  to  enter- 
tain themselves,  thus  contributing  materially  to  the  financial  success 
of  the  enterprise. 

To  all  who  aided  in  any  way  or  in  any  measure  in  showing  cour- 
tesy to  the  delegates  the  Committee  would  thus  express  its  appreciation. 

The  expenditures  of  the  Committee  will  be  found  in  the  Treas- 
urer's report. 

Ezba  Squieb  Tipple,  Chairman. 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  MEETINGS. 

The  Committee  on  Meetings  desires  in  this,  its  final  report  to  the 
Executive  Committee,  to  review  its  proceedings  and  give  a  summary 
of  its  work  from  the  beginning. 

As  early  as  last  February  Carnegie  Hall  was  secured  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Inter-Church  Conference  by  the  payment  of  the  usual  en- 
gagement fee,  and  a  lease  was  afterward  signed  for  the  use  of  the 
audience  hall,  dining  room,  parlors  and  the  rooms  adjoining  the  plat- 
form for  a  term  of  five  days,  beginning  with  Wednesday  evening, 
November  15,  which  lease  was  afterward  extended  to  six  days.  At 
the  first  regular  meeting  of  the  Committee,  held  at  the  St.  Denis  Hotel 
in  September,  where  a  lunch  was  served.  It  was  voted  that  the  dele- 
gates should  be  seated  according  to  their  delegations  in  the  fore  part 
of  the  parquet,  and  the  alternate  delegates  and  corresponding  mem- 
bers on  the  platform ;  that  the  boxes  should  be  assigned  to  parties  sub- 

637 


638  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

scribing  liberally  to  the  expenses  of  the  Conference;  that  reserved  seat 
tickets  be  issued  for  the  remaining  seats  in  the  parquet  and  general 
admission  tici^ets  for  the  rest  of  the  house;  that  leather  pocket  passes 
be  prepared  for  the  delegates,  alternate  del^ates  and  corresponding 
members,  and  gold-plated  buttons  bearing  the  device  of  a  hand  holding 
seven  stars  (the  symbol  taken  from  Rev.  1:  16)  be  made  for  the  con- 
venience of  delegates  to  serve  as  badges,  insuring  admission  without 
showing  passes.  A  sub-committee,  consisting  of  the  Rev.  Drs.  George 
P.  Mains  and  W.  C.  P.  Rhoades,  and  Messrs.  John  Willis  Baer.  Edward 
S.  Clinch,  Henry  W.  Jessup  and  Willis  E.  Lougee,  was  chosen  to  carry 
out  the  mandates  of  the  full  committee.  It  was  also  voted  to  issue  a 
circular  letter  to  each  of  the  pastors  of  evangelical  churches  in  Greater 
New  York  asking  them  to  specify  how  many  tickets  they  could  dis- 
tribute among  their  people. 

The  responses  to  this  circular,  as  well  as  letters  received  from  per- 
sons living  at  a  distance,  and  mostly  clergymen,  were  of  such  a  tenor, 
especially  in  asking  for  reserved  seats,  that  it  seemed  necessary  to  call 
a  second  meeting  of  the  full  committee  to  reconsider  its  action.  The 
Committee  met,  accordingly,  toward  the  end  of  October  at  the  St  Denis 
Hotel,  and  after  careful  consideration  voted  to  reserve  the  whole  house. 
It  was  also  voted  that  in  the  first  distribution  tickets  should  be  given 
only  for  the  opening  sessions  of  the  Conference. 

In  accordance  with  these  instructions  reserved  seat  tickets  were 
printed  to  the  number  which  the  seating  capacity  of  the  hall  called  for 
— it  not  being  thought  proper  to  over-ticket  the  house — and  the  same 
were  distributed  by  mail,  in  most  cases  only  for  the  Wednesday  and 
Thursday  sessions  of  the  Conference ;  but  a  circular  was  mailed  with 
them  stating  that  tickets  for  the  other  sessions  could  be  obtained  by 
application  at  any  time  by  mail,  or,  after  the  opening  of  the  Confer- 
ence, in  person  at  the  ticket  office.  Carnegie  Hall.  All  of  the  tickets 
that  had  been  prepared  were  distributed,  and  during  the  Conference 
further  tickets  were  printed,  so  that  none  who  applied  for  admission 
were  sent  empty  away.  The  audiences,  composed  largely  of  clergymen, 
evinced  the  interest  taken  in  the  Conference  by  the  leaders  of  thought 
in  our  churches.  The  delegates  were  present  in  full  number  from  the 
beginning,  and  continued  to  attend  with  unusual  fidelity  and  a  grow- 
ing enthusiasm,  and  the  meetings  progressed  with  an  ever  increasing 
measure  of  power,  foreshadowing  the  triumphant  outcome  of  the  de- 
liberations of  the  Conference  in  a  practically  unanimous  vote  for  Fed- 
eration. Respectfully  submitted, 

Melatiah  E.  Dwight,  Chairman. 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  PUBLICATION. 

To  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Fed- 
eration : 

Gentlemen: — Any  further  report  from  your  Committee  on  Publica- 
tion than  the  volume  in  which  appear  the  proceedings  of  the  Confer- 
ence and  the  addresses  made  at  its  sessions  would  seem  to  be  super- 


REPORTS    OF    COMMITTEES.  639 

fluous,  and  yet  it  may  be  well  to  place  oa  record  tere  some  of  the  con- 
siderations which  led  the  Committee  to  decision  on  some  details  of 
publication. 

In  the  first  place,  it  was  early  determined  that  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee would  have  to  bear  the  full  cost  of  printing  and  publishing  the 
volume,  relying  on  advance  subscriptions  and  sales  after  publication 
for  reimbursement.  This  being  the  case,  it  was  decided  to  place  with 
a  printer  a  contract  for  the  manufacture  of  the  book,  and  after  con- 
sidering several  propositions  from  printers  and  publishers,  such  con- 
tract was  made  with  the  Willett  Press  of  New  York. 

It  was  decided  in  the  second  place  that  the  Committee  was  not  in 
position  to  care  for  the  details  of  selling  the  volume  through  the  book 
trade  of  the  country.  The  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company  was  therefore 
appointed  trade  agents  for  the  volume,  after  propositions  from  other 
publishers  had  been  considered.  The  Committee  has  relinquished  no 
rights  in  the  book ;  it  can  sell  copies  to  individuals ;  It  holds  the  cogy- 
right  on  the  volume;  but  it  has  pledged  itself  to  protect  the  Revell 
Company  as  regards  sales  to  the  book  trade. 

Further  than  this,  the  published  volume  is  the  report  of  your  Com- 
mittee. An  efficient  printer  has  relieved  the  Committee  of  many  little 
details  incident  to  the  publication  of  a  book,  and  the  appointment  of  an 
Editor  and  E}ditorial  Committee  has  relieved  it  of  the  burdens  of  proof 
reading. 

Individually  and  collectively  the  members  of  the  Committee  on 
Publication  appreciate  the  privilege  that  was  accorded  them  of  caring 
for  the  business  details  of  the  publication  of  the  permanent  record  of 
what  is  justly  considered  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  gatherings  of 
Christian  men  the  world  has  ever  known. 
For  the  Committee, 

William  T.  Demabest,  Chairman. 


REPORT  OF  THE  PRESS  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  INTER-CHURCH 
CONFERENCE  ON  FEDERATION. 

Soon  after  the  appointment  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Conference  about  fifty  editors,  representing  all  of  the  leading  denomi- 
nations, whose  papers  covered  every  part  of  the  country  as  far  West 
as  the  Rocky  Mountains,  were  appointed  members  of  the  Press  Com- 
mittee, and  two  meetings  were  held  before  the  Conference  opened,  in 
which  plans  were  made  for  covering  the  meetings  as  fully  as  possible,  not 
only  by  the  religious  but  also  by  the  secular  press.  Special  articles 
were  also  prepared  for  magazines,  and  others  were  sent  out  as  syndi- 
cate articles. 

Mr.  Melville  E.  Stone,  the  President  of  the  Associated  Press,  ex- 
pressed a  desire  to  aid  the  committee  in  distributing  speeches  in  ad- 
vance, and  this  was  done.  Several  hundred  copies  of  proofs  of  each 
of  the  leading  addresses  were  sent  broadcast  through  the  countrj',  thus 
insuring  a  much  fuller  presentation  of  the  topics  discussed  than  under 
other  circumstances  would  have  been  possible. 


640  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Owing  to  an  unusual  combination  of  news  features  in  New  Yorli 
at  the  time,  the  Conference  was  not  so  fully  reported  as  it  otherwise 
would  have  been,  or  as  it  deserved.  There  are  notable  exceptions, 
some  of  the  daily  papers  printing  very  full  reports.  In  every  case  the 
treatment  which  the  Conference  received  was  one  of  fairness. 

The  religious  papers  of  the  country,  as  was  expected,  did  remark- 
ably well.  Full  reports,  usually  editorial  articles,  appeared  in  most  of 
them. 

In  addition  to  the  proofs  of  the  speeches  distributed,  hundreds 
of  photographs  of  the  officers  and  speakers  of  the  Conference  were  sent 
out  to  both  the  religious  and  secular  press.  Copies  of  a  plate  of  the 
officers  of  the  Conference  were  sent  to  the  religious  papers  which  de- 
sired them. 

In  addition  to  its  other  duties,  the  Press  Committee  had  charge  of 
the  stenographic  force  which  reported  the  proceedings  of  the  Confer- 
ence. 

On  Saturday  afternoon  thirty-five  editors  in  attendance  at  the  Con- 
ference had  luncheon  together  as  the  guests  of  the  chairman  of  the 
committee.  In  the  discussion  which  followed  the  luncheon,  the  Rev. 
James  H.  Garrison,  LL.D.,  editor  of  "The  Christian  Evangelist,"  of  St, 
Louis,  moved  that  a  committee  be  appointed,  of  which  the  chairman 
of  the  Press  Committee  should  be  the  chairman,  "to  serve  as  a  sort  of 
clearing  house  for  articles  to  be  sent  to  the  various  papers  and  to  ar- 
range with  different  writers  on  various  subjects,  in  order  to  further 
the  interests  of  Federation."  This  motion  was  adopted,  and  the  Rev. 
James  E.  Clarke,  editor  of  "The  Cumberland  Presbyterian,"  of  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee,  moved  that  the  committee  be  directed  to  suggest  that 
at  the  time  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Convention  in  Nashville  a  plan 
for  a  Religious  Press  Association,  which  should  still  further  carry  out 
the  purpose  for  which  the  Conference  was  called,  be  presented.  The 
following  committee  was  appointed : 

Rev.  John  Bancroft  Devins,  D.D.,  New  York,  Chairman. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Garrison,  LL.D.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Rev.  James  E.  Clarke,  D.D.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Rev.  Howard  A.  Bridgman,  Boston,  Mass. 

Rev.  C.  R.  Spencer,  D.D.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Mr.  Nolan  R.  Best,  Chicago,  111. 

Rev.  G.  B.  Winton,  D.D.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Calvert,  D.D.,  New  York. 

Rev.  David  H.  Bauslin,  D.D.,  Springfield,  O. 

It  is  expected  that  a  report  will  be  made  and  an  association  formed 
at  Nashville  in  March,  1906. 

The  names  of  the  members  of  the  Press  Committee,  with  the  papers 
which  they  represent,  will  be  found  on  pages  673,  674. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

John  Bancroft  Devins, 
Chairman,  Press  Committee. 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEES.  641 

REPORT  OF  THE  PULPIT  SUPPLY  COMMITTEE. 

The  Pulpit  Supply  Committee,  in  order  to  emphasize  the  work  of 
the  Conference  and  illustrate  its  spirit,  sent  a  request  to  the  delegates 
for  permission  to  assign  them  Sunday,  November  19,  to  the  pulpits  of 
the  city  without  regard  to  denominational  lines,  and  another  request 
to  the  pastors  of  Greater  New  York  and  vicinity  for  the  use  of  their 
pulpits  on  that  day.  The  response  from  the  Churches  was  so  greatly 
in  excess  of  the  response  from  the  delegates  that  the  Committee  could 
not  supply  one-third  of  the  pulpits  so  courteously  put  at  their  disposal. 
Nevertheless,  about  eighty  visiting  delegates  were  assigned  to  service, 
and  nearly  one  hundred  pulpits  filled  either  morning  or  evening.  The 
result  was  happy.  The  Christian  love  which  makes  us  one  was  mag- 
nified and  fraternal  heartiness  was  notably  increased. 

Wallace  MacMullen,  Chairman. 


REPORT  OF  FINANCIAL  COMMITTEE. 

To  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federa- 
tion: 

The  Finance  Committee  beg  to  present  the  following  report.  The 
preliminary  estimate  submitted  in  the  spring  of  1905  by  those  having 
in  charge  the  organization  of  the  Conference  was  as  follows : 

Hall  expenses    $6,000 

Committee  on  Hospitality 1,000 

Hospitality    7,000 

Net  cost  of  book 1,000 

Sundries   3,000 

$18,000.00 

Your   Committee   therefore   made   plans   to   raise,    if   possible,   the 

sum  of  $18,000. 

Up   to  date  they   have   received,   including   subscriptions   to 

the   book    $16,797.70 

The  exp^ises  of  the  Conference  have  been  as  follows: 

Preliminary   expenses    $4,941.98 

Hall    expenses    4,418.95 

Hospitality   3,552.06 

12,912.99 

Leaving  a  balance  on  hand  applicable  for  carrying  on  the 
work  committed  to  your  Committee  by  the  Conference 
and  the  publication  of  the  proceedings  of $3,884.71 

It  is  estimated  that  the  cost  of  the  Book  of  Proceedings  may  take 
$2,500  of  this  balance. 

The  hall  and  preliminary  expenses  show  a  considerable  increase 
over  the  original  estimate,  owing  to  the  lengthening  of  the  programme 


642  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

and  the  consequent  increase  in  the  duration  of  the  Conference.  The 
amount  expended  for  hospitality  shows  a  large  decrease,  as  many  of 
the  delegates  paid  their  own  expenses  and  others  were  generously  en- 
tertained by  members  of  the  various  city  churches, 

Tour  Committee  desire  to  convey  to  all  those  who  contributed  toward 
the  expense  of  the  Conference  their  grateful  appreciation  of  the  aid 
so  generously  given.  Respectfully  submitted. 

Stephen  Bakee.  Chairman. 

January  1,  1906. 


INTER-CHURCH   CONFERENCE   ON    FEDERATION. 
teeasueee's  eepobt,   januaey  1,   1906. 

Receipts    ?16.797.70 

Payments : 

Preliminary  Expenses: 

Oiiiee  rent   $141.00 

Stenography    389.55 

Printing    1,052.21 

Postage    95.60 

Expenses   of  Chairman   of   Execu- 
tive  Committee    550.00 

Telephone    16.15 

Sundries    297.47 

Secretarv    2.400.00 

$4,941.98 

Hall  Expenses: 

Rent    .$2,106.00 

Ticket  office  assistant 50.00 

Meetings    Committee    100.00 

Ushers    403.50 

Newspaper  notices   57.80 

Printing  tickets   272.70 

Young  People's   Meeting 84.15 

Press  Committee   1,035.60 

Music    283.00 

Pulpit  Supply  Committee 26.20 

4,418.95 

Hospitaliiy: 

Hotel    and    restaurant    bills,    less 

amount     received     for      meal 

tickets    ?3,105.25 

Postage,  printing,  clerk  hire,  etc..      446.81 

3,552.06 

Total  expenses   $12,912.99 

Balance  for  publication  of  book  and  carrying  on  the  work     $3,884.71 
Alfeed  R.  Kimball,  Treasurer. 


REPORT  OF  COMMITTEES.  643 

REPORT    OF    THE    COMMITTEE    ON    TRANSPORTATION. 

January  18,  1906. 
The  Committee  on  Railroad  Transportation  respectfully  reports  as 
follows : 

1.  The  rates  of  one  and  one-third  fares  for  the  round  trip  were 
secured  for  all  persons  in  attendance  upon  the  Conference  from  the  sev- 
eral Railroad  Associations.  These  rates  covered  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  from  EI  Paso,  Texas ;  Denver,  Colo.,  and  Bismarck,  N.  D., 
eastward. 

2.  Printed  circulars  announcing  the  rates  were  sent  to  all  dele- 
gates, whether  principals  or  alternates,  and  to  pastors  of  important 
churches  east  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  so  far  as  their  addresses  could  be 
ascertained. 

3.  The  business  at  the  Conference  was  handled  by  an  assistant, 
and  was  completed  in  a  satisfactory  manner. 

It  is  recommended  that  the  thanks  of  the  Executive  Committee  be 
tendered  to  the  several   Railroad  Associations  for  the  courtesies  ex- 
tended by  them  to  the  delegates  and  others. 
Respectfully  submitted, 
(Signed)  Wm.  H.  Roberts,  Chairman. 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES 


ROLL    OF   DELEGATES 

Italics  denote  the  names  of  delegates  who  were  unable  to  attend  the  Coniereuce. 


BAPTIST    CHURCHES. 

The  following  delegates  were  ap- 
pointed under  action  taken  at  a  Gen- 
eral Meeting  of  the  Baptists  of  the 
North,  held  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  May, 
1904: 

The  Rev.  Henry  W.  Barnes.  D.D., 
Corresponding-    Secretary    of    the 
Baptist  Missionary   Convention  of 
the  State  of  New  York. 

Binghamton,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  L.  Call  Barnes.  D.D.. 

Pastor  of  First  Baptist  Church, 
"Worcester,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  Z.  Batten,  D.D.. 
Pastor  of  First  Baptist  Church, 
Lincoln,  Neb. 

The  Rev.  C.  R.  Blackall,  D.D., 

Editor  of  the  Periodicals  of  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  So- 
ciety, 

Philadelphia,    Pa. 

The  Rev.  Gibbs  Braislin,  D.D.. 

Pastor  of  First  Baptist   Church, 
Rutland,    Vt. 

The  Rev.  T.  Edwin  Brown.  D.D.. 
Pastor  of  First  Baptist  Church, 
New  Britain,  Conn. 

The  Rev.  John  B.  Calvert.  D.D.. 

Of  "The  Examiner,"  President 
of  the  Missionary  Convention  of 
the  State  of  New  York, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  Netcton  Clark.  D.D., 
Hamilton,   N.   Y. 

Thomas  0.  Conant,  LL.D., 
Of   "The   Examiner," 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Latham  A.  Crandall,  D.D., 

Paster  of  Trinity  Baptist  Church, 

Minneapolis,    Minn. 

The  Rev.  W.  A.  Davison.  D.D.. 

State  Superintendent  of  Missions 
for  Vermont  Baptist  State  Con- 
vention, 

Burlington,   Vt. 

Prof.  James  Quayle  Dealey.  Ph.D., 
Professor  of  Social  and  Political 
Science,  Brown  University:  Pres- 
ident of  the  Rhode  Island  Fed- 
eration of  Churches  and  Chris- 
tian  Workers, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

647 


Mr.  J.  S.  Dickerson, 

Editor   of   "The   Standard," 

Chicago,    111. 

The  Rev.  Chas.  Hastings  Dodd,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Eutaw  Place  Baptist 
Church, 

Baltimore,  Md. 

Tlie  Rev.  Chas.  Aubrey  Eaton,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Euclid  Avenue  Bap- 
tist Church, 

Cleveland,   Ohio. 

The  Rev.  William  H.  Eaton,  D.D., 
Secretary  of  Massachusetts  Mis- 
sionary  Society, 

Boston,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  Wra.  H.  P.  Faunce,  D.D., 
LL.D., 

President  of  Brown  University. 

Providence.  R.  I. 

The  Rev.  Norman  Fox.  D.D., 

Morristown,   N.   J. 

The  Rev.  0.  P.  Gifford,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Delaware  Avenue  Bap- 
tist   Church, 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  B.  A.  Greene,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  First  Baptist  Church, 
Bvanston,  IM. 

The  Rev.  S.  H.  Greene,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Calvary  Baptist 
Church, 

Washington,    D.    C. 

Mr.  William  N.  Hartshorn, 

Chairman  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  International  Sun- 
day  School   Association, 

Boston,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  Myron  W.  Eaynes,  D.D., 
Pastor  of"^  First  Baptist  Church, 
Seattle,  Wash. 

The  Rev.  Chas.  R.  Henderson,  D.D., 
Professor  in  the  University  of 
Chicago, 

Chicago,  111. 

The  Rev.  C.  A.  Hohhs,  D.D., 

Pastor    of    First    Baptist    Church, 
Delavan,  Wis. 

The  Rev.  Edward  Holyoke,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Calvary  Baptist 
Church, 

Providence,  R.  I. 


CHURCH    FEDERATION 


The  Rev.  Wayland  Hoyt,  D.D,,LL.D., 
Pastor  of  Memorial  Baptist 
Church, 

Philadelphia,   Pa. 

The  Rev,  George  E.  Horr,  D.D., 

ProfesBor     of     Church      History, 

Newton    Theological    Institution, 

Newton  Centre,  Mass. 

The  Rev.    Emory    W.    Hunt,    D.D., 
LL.D., 
President   of   Denison  University, 
Granville,    Ohio. 

The    Rev.    Henry    M.    King,    D.D., 
S.T.D., 
Pastor   of   First   Baptist   Church, 
Providence,  R.  I. 

The  Rev.  W.  M.  Lawrence,  D.D. 
>tist  Ch 
)range,  N.  J. 


Pastor  of  North  Baptist  Church, 
Or 


The  Rev.  Albert  G.  Lawson,  D.D.. 
Pastor   of   Clinton    Avenue    Bap- 
tist Church, 

Newark,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Stuart  MacArthur, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 
Pastor       of       Calvary       Baptist 
Church, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  W.  B.  Matteson,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  BaptUt  Church, 

Red  Bank,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  A.  L.  Moore,  D.D., 

Pastor      of      Riverside      Baptist 
Church, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Henry  L.  Morehouse,  D.D., 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society, 

New  York. 
The  Rev.  Irving  B.  Mower, 

Secretary  of  Maine  Baptist   Mis- 
sionary  Convention, 

Waterville,  Me. 

The  Rev.  J.  J.  Muir,  D.D., 

Pastor    of    the    Temple     Baptist 
Church, 

Washington,   D.   C 

The  Rev.  W.  G.  Partridge.  D.D., 

Pastor     of     the     Fourth     Avenue 
Baptist   Church, 

Pittsburg,   Pa. 

Hon.  Henry  Kirke  Portei-. 
Member  of  Congress, 

Pittsburg,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  George  E.  Rees,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  New  Tabernacle   Bap- 
tist Church, 

Philadelphia,    Pa. 


The  Rev.  Rush  Rhees,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
President  of  the  University  of 
Rochester, 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  Henry  M.  Sanders.  D.D., 
New  York. 

The  Rev.  Orison  C.  Sargent,  A.M.. 
General  Secretary  of  New  Hamp- 
shire  Baptist   Convention, 

Concord,  N.  H. 

Mr.  Edgar  O.  Silver, 

Orange,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  George  :SL  Stone.  D.D., 
Pastor   of  Asylum     Hill     Baptist 
Church, 

Hartford,  Conn. 

The  Rev.  H.  Allen  Tapper,  D.D., 

Pastor    of   Fifteenth   Street   Bap- 
tist Church, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  Kerr  Boyce  Tupper,  D.D., 
LL.D., 
Pastor  of  Madison  Avenue  Bap- 
tist Church, 

New  York. 

The    Rev.    B.    L.    Whitman,    D.D., 
LL.D., 
Pastor  of  Fifth  Baptist  Church, 
Philadelphia,   Pa. 


FREE  BAPTISTS. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
General  Conference,  1904. 

The  Rev.  Alfred  Williams  Anthony, 
D.D., 

Professor  of  New  Testament 
Exegesis  and  Criticism,  Cobb  Di- 
vinity School,  Secretary  of  Maine 
Interdenominational  Commission, 
Lewiston,  Me. 

The  Rev.  Geo.  H.  Ball,  D.D., 

I*resident  Emeritus  of  Keuka 
College,  Professor  of  Canonical 
Literature,  and  Pastor  of  the 
College    Church, 

Keuka  Park,  N.  T. 

George  Colby  Chase,  D.D.,  LL.D.. 
President   of  Bates   College, 

Lewiston,   Me. 

The  Rev.  John  Merrill  Davis,  Ph.D., 
D.D., 
President  of  Rio  Grande  College, 
Rio   Grande,   Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Henry  M.  Ford,  D.D., 
General    Field    Secretary, 

Hillsdale,  Mich. 

The  Rev.  Rivington  D.  Lord,  D.D., 
Pastor     of     First     Free     Baptist 
Church,       former       President      of 
General  Conference  of  Free  Bap- 
tists,  1898-1904. 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES 


649 


Joseph  W.  Mauck,  LL.D., 

President   of   Hillsdale   College, 
Hillsdale,  Mich. 

Hon.  Geo.  F.  Mosher.  LL.D., 

Editor  of  the  "Morning  Star," 
former  President  of  General  Con- 
ference  of   Free    Baptists,   1895-98. 

The  Rev.  Delavan  B.  Reed.  D.D., 
Dean  of  the  Divinity  School, 

Hillsdale,   Mich. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Stacey, 

Pastor  of  Curtiss  Memorial 
Church, 

Concord,  N.  H. 

Hon.  Lindley  M.  Webl). 

President  of  General  Conference 
of  EYee  Baptists, 

Portland,  Me. 


SEVENTH  DAY   BAPTISTS. 

Delegates  appointed  by  the  action 
of  the  General  Conference,  held  at 
Shiloh,  N.  J.,  August  28,  1905. 

Professor  Stephen  Babcock. 

New  York  City. 

Tiie  Rev.  H.  N.  Jordan. 

Pastor    of    Seventh    Day    Baptist 
Church, 

Dunellen,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  A.  H.  Lewis,  D.D.. 

Editor    of    "The    Sabbath    Recor- 
der," 

Plalnfleld,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  E.  T.  Loofboro. 

Pastor    of    Seventh    Day    Baptist 
Church, 

New  York  City. 

The  Rev.  George  B.  Shaw. 

Pastor    of    Seventh    Day    Baptist 
Church, 

Plainfield.   N.   J. 


"CHRISTIANS." 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
the  American  Christian  Convention. 

The  Rev.  J.  F.  Burnett,  D.D., 

Secretary  of  American  Christian 
Convention  and  Pastor  First 
Christian    Church, 

Muncie,   Ind. 

Mr.  George  Albert  Chace, 

Fall  River,  Mass. 

Emmett  L.  Moffitt,  M.A., 

President  of  Elon   College, 

Elon,  N.  C. 


The  Rev.  Alva  Herman  Morrill,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  PMrst  Christian  Church, 

Laconia,  N.  H. 

The  Rev.  L.  W.  Phillips, 

Vice-President  of  the  American 
Christian  Convention,  President 
New  England  Christian  Conven- 
tion, 

Franklin,  N.  H. 

The  Rev.  Oliver  W.  Powers,  D.D., 
President  of  the  American  Chris- 
tian Convention    and    Pastor    of 
the  First  Christian  Church, 

Columbus,   Ohio. 

The  Rev.  W.  W.  Staley,  D.D., 

President  of  Southern  Christian 
Convention, 

Suffolk,  Va. 

The  Rev.  J.  J.  Summerbell,  D.D., 
Editor  of  the   "Herald  of  Gospel 
Liberty," 

Dayton,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Martyn  Summerbell.  D.D., 
President  of  Starkey  Seminary, 
Lakemont,  N.   Y. 

The  Rev.   John   B.   Weston,   D.D., 
President    of     Christian     Biblical 
Institute, 

Stanfordville,  N.   Y. 


CONGREGATIONAL. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
the  National  Council  of  the  Con- 
gregational Churches  of  the  United 
States,  Des  Moines,  Iowa,  1904. 

The  Rev.  James  A.  Adams,  D.D., 
Editor  of  "The  Advance," 

Chicago,   111. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Allbright,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Pilgrim  Congregational 
Church, 

Dorchester,    Mass. 

The  Rev.  Asher  Anderson,  D.D., 

Secretary  of  the  National  Coun- 
cil of  Congregational  Churches 
in   the   United   States, 

Boston,   Mass. 

The  Rev.  David  N.  Beach,  D.D.. 

President  of  Bangor  Theological 
Seminary, 

Bangor,  Me. 

The  Rev.  Nehemiah  Boynton,  D.D., 
Pastor    of    Clinton    Ave.    Congre- 
gational   Church, 

Brooklyn,   N.   Y. 


650 


CHIRCH    FEDERATION 


The  Rev.  Amory  H.  Bradford,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  First  Congregational 
Church, 

Montclair,  N.  J. 
Former  Moderator  of  the  Na- 
tional Council  of  Congregational 
Churches  in  the  United  States 
(1900-1904),  President  American 
Missionary    Association. 

The  Rev.  Andrew  M.  Brodie,  D.D., 
Superintendent    of    Illinois    Con- 
gregational Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety, 

Chicago,  111. 

The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Brown.  D.D., 
Pastor    of    First    Congregational 
Church, 

Oakland,  Cal. 

The  Rev.  Raymond  Calkins, 

Pastor  of  State  Street  Congrega- 
tional  Church, 

Portland,   Me. 

Hon.  Samuel  B.  Capen.  LL.D., 

President  of  the  American  Board 
of     Commissioners      for     Foreign 


Boston,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  V.  W.  Davis,  D.D., 
Pastor    of    First    Congregational 
Church, 

Pittsfield,   Mass. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Orrin  Day,  D.D., 
Bartlett    Professor    of    Practical 
Theologv    and    President    of    the 
Faculty,       Andover       Theological 
Seminary, 

Andover,   Mass. 

The  Rev.  Harry  P.   Deney.  D.D.. 
Pastor  of  Church  of  the  Pilgrims, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  Albert  E.  Dunning,  D.D.. 
Editor  of  "The  Congregationalist 
and    Christian   "^'"orld," 

Boston,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  Daniel  Evans. 

Pastor  of  North  Avenue  Congre- 
gational  Church, 

Cambridge,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  Frank  K.  Foster. 

Pastor  of  Congregational  Church, 
Olivet,   Mich. 
Mr.  H.  Clark  Ford, 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Henry  H.  French,  D.D.. 
Pastor    of  "  First    Congregational 
Church, 

Maiden,    Mass. 

The  Rev.  Washingi;on  Gladden,  D.D., 
LL.D.. 
Pastor    of    First     Congregational 
Church, 

Columbus,  Ohio. 
Moderator  of  National  Council  of 
the  Congregational  Churches  of 
the    United    States. 


Eon.  James  M.  W.  Eall. 

Newton,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  Edwin  N.  Hardy, 

Pastor  of  Bethany  Congregation- 
al Church, 

Quincy,   Mass. 

The  Rev.  George  E.  Hall.  D.D.. 

Pastor  of  Congregational  Church, 
Dover,   N.   H. 

The  Rev.  George  Harris.  D.D.,  LL.D., 
President  of  Amherst  College, 

Amherst,   Mass. 

The  Rev.  Frank  W.  Hodgdon, 

Pastor  of  Plymouth  Congrega- 
tional   Church. 

Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Hopkins.  D.D.,LL.D, 
President  o'f  "Williams   College, 

Williamstown,    Mass. 

The  Rev.  Oliver  Huckel,  D.D.. 

Pastor  of  Associate  Congrega- 
tional   Church, 

Baltimore,  Md. 

Mr.  Charles  A.  Hull. 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  Joel  S.  Ives, 

Secretary  of  the  Missionary  So- 
ciety of  Connecticut,  Registrar 
of  the  National  Council  of  Con- 
gregational Churches  in  the 
United    States. 

Hartford,  Conn. 

The  Rev.  Charles  E.  -Jefferson.  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Broadway  Tabernacle, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  H.  H.  Kelsey. 

Pastor  of  Fourth  Congregational 
Church, 

Hartford,   Conn. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Churchill  King.  D.D. 
President  "  of  Oberlin  College, 
Professor  of  Philosophy  and  The- 
ology, 

Oberlin,   Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Luther  Kloss.  D.D.. 
Pastor  of  Central  Congregational 
Church, 

Philadelphia,    Pa. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  T.  McElveen.  Ph.D., 
Pastor  of  Shawmut  Congrega- 
tional   Church, 

Boston,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  William  W.  McLane,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Plymouth  Congrega- 
tional   Church, 

New  Haven,   Conn. 

The    Rev.    Georsre    Edward    Martin, 
D.D.. 
Pastor  of  Kirk  Street  Congrega- 
tional   Church, 

Lowell,  Mass. 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES 


651 


The  Rev.  C.  H.  Merrill.  D.D., 

St.  Johnsbury,  Vt. 
Secretary  of  Vermont  Missionary 
Society, 

Cambridge,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  John  H.  Morley,  LL.D., 
President  of  Fargo  College, 

Fargo,  N.  D. 

The  R«v.  Stephen  B.  L.  Penrose, 
D.D.. 

President   of  "Whitman    College, 
Walla  Walla,  Wash. 

The  Rev.  Alfred  Tyler  Perry,  D.D., 
President  of  Marietta  College, 

Marietta,  Ohio. 

The    Rev,    Dwight    Mallory    Pratt, 
D.D., 
Pastor  of  Walnut   Hills   Congre- 
gational Church, 

Cincinnati,   O. 

The  Rev.  Edward  Tallmadge  Root, 
Secretary  of  Rhode  Island  Fed- 
eration  of   Churches, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

The  Rev.  Frank  K.  Sanders,  D.D., 
Secretary  of  Congregational  Sun- 
day School  and  Publication  So- 
ciety, 

Boston,   Mass. 

The  Rev.  E.  B.  Sanford.  D.D., 

General  Secretarj-  of  the  Nation- 
al Federation  of  Churches  and 
Christian   Workers, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Willard  Scott,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Piedmont  Congrega- 
tional Church, 

Worcester,  Mass. 
President  of  the  Congregational 
Sunday  School  and  Publishing 
Society. 

The  Rev.  William  F.  Slocum,  D.D. 
LL.D.. 
President     of     Colorado     College, 
Head  Professor  of  Philosophy, 

Colorado   Springs,   Col. 

Mr.  William  H.  Strong, 

Detroit,  Mich. 

The  Rev.  Ward  Taylor  Sutherland, 
D.D., 

Pastor  of  Congregational  Church, 
Wellsville,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  Reuen  Thomas,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Harvard  Congregation- 
al Church, 

Brookline,  Mass. 


The  Rev.  William  Hayes  Ward,  D.D., 
LL.D., 
Chairman  of  Committee  on  Fed- 
eration, Comity  and  Unity  of  the 
National  Council,  Editor  of  "The 
Independent,"   New  York. 

Newark,   N.   J. 

Dr.  Lucien  C.  Warner,  LL.D., 

New  York. 


DISCIPLES    OF    CHRIST. 

The    Rev.    Edward    Scribner    Ames, 
Ph.D., 
Pastor  of  Hyde  Park  Church  of 
the  Disciples  of  Christ, 

Chicago,  111. 
Instructor  of  Philosophy  in  the 
University  of  Chicago. 

President  Barton  0.  Aylesworth, 

Fort   Collins,    Colo. 

The  Rev.  Levi  G.  Batman, 

Pastor  of  First  Christian  Church, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Minor  Lee  Bates, 

Pastor  of  First  Church  of  Christ, 
East  Orange,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  S.  H.  Bartlett, 

Corresponding      Secretary      Ohio 
Christian  Missionary  Society. 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Hill  McClelland  Bell.  LL.D. 
President  of  Drake  University, 
Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

Mr.  Robert  Christie, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  E.  Cramblet, 
President  of  Bethany  College, 

Bethany,  W.  Va. 

The  Rev.  B.  S.  Ferral, 

Pastor  of  Jefferson  Street  Church 
of   Christ, 

Buffalo,  N.   Y. 

The  Rev.  J.  H.  Garrison,  LL.D., 

Editor  of  "Christian  Evangelist," 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  J.  L.  Garvin, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  M.  E.  Harlan, 

Pastor  of  First  Church  of  Christ, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  S.  M.  Hunt, 

Springfield,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  H.  C.  Kendrick, 

Pastor  of  First  Christian  Church, 
Hagerstown,   Md. 

The  Rev.   Frederick  D.   Kershner, 

Martinsburg,  W.  Va. 


652 


CHURCH    FEDERATION 


Edward  H.  Long  (M.D.) , 

President    of    New    York    Stat* 
Christian    Missionary    Society. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  Ross  Lloyd, 

Pastor  of  First  Christian  Church, 
Bloomington,    111. 

The  Rev.  James  P.  Lichtenberger, 
Pastor    of    Lenox    Avenue    Union 
Church,  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ, 
New  York. 

The  Rev.  J.  E.  Lynn, 

Central    Christian    Church, 

Warren,   Ohio. 

The  Rev.  L.  J.  Marshall, 

Pastor  of  First  Church  of  Christ, 
Independence,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  R.  Moflfet, 

Cleveland,   Ohio. 

President  W.  T.  Moore, 
Christian  College, 

Columbia,  Mo. 

Hon.  Willard  H.  Olmsted, 


The  Rev.  Phil  A.  Parsons, 

Pastor  of   Christian    Church, 

Plainfield,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  Frederick  D.  Power,  LL.D., 
Pastor  of  Vermont  Avenue  Chris- 
tian  Church, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Rev.  G.  A.  Reinl, 

Pastor  of  Christian  Church, 

Springiield,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  C.  C.  Rowlinson, 

President  of  Hiram  College, 

Hiram,    Ohio. 

The  Rev.  E.  C.  Sanderson,  D.D., 

EJugene,   Oregon. 

The  Rev.  W.  D.  Ryan, 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  R.  E.  Steed, 

Norfolk,    Va. 

The  Rev.  E.  Jay  Teagarden, 
Pastor  of  Christian  Church, 

Danbury,  Conn. 

The  Rev.  Geo.  B.  Townsend, 

Pastor  of  First  Church  of  Christ, 
Troy,    N.    Y. 

The  Rev.  J.  M.  Van  Horn,  LL.D,, 
Pastor   First   Church  of  Christ, 
Worcester,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  C.  C.  Wait, 

Upper  Troy,  N.  T. 

The  Rev.  A.  L.  Ward, 

Roxbury,  Boston,  Mass. 


The  Rev.  Herbert  L.  Willett,  Ph.D., 
Assistant  Professor  of  Semitic 
Languages  and  Literatures,  and 
Dean  of  the  Disciples'  Divinity 
House,  the  University  of  Chicago. 
Cliicago,    111. 

The  Rev.  S.  T.  Willis, 

Pastor     of     Second     Church     of 
Christ, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  W.  J.  Wright, 

Superintendent,     Standing     Com- 
mittee on   Evangelism, 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  C.  A.  Young, 

Editor    of    "The    Christian    Cen- 
tury," 

Chicago,    III. 


EVANGELICAL  ASSOCIATION. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  Thomas  Bowman, 
D.D., 
Senior  Bishop  of  the  Evangelical 
Association, 

Reading,   Pa. 

The    Rev.    Sylvester    C.    Breyfogel, 
D.D., 
Bishop   of   the   Evangelical  Asso- 
ciation, 

Reading,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  William  L.  Bollman, 

Pastor  of  Salem  Evangelical 
Church, 

Reading,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  P.  Theo.  Beck, 

Presiding    Elder    of    New     Yot* 

District,  _ 

Brooklyn,  N.  T. 

The  Rev.  Charles  D.  Dreher, 

Presiding  Elder  of  the  Reading 
District,  East  Pennsylvania  Con- 
ference of  the  Evangelical  Asso- 
ciation, 

Reading,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Guelich, 

Presiding  Elder  of  Philadelphia 
District, 

Philadelphia. 

The  Rev.  G.  Heinmiller, 

Editor  of  "Der  Christliche  Bot- 
schafter," 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  William  Horn,  D.D., 

Bishop  of  the  Evangelical  Asso- 
ciation, 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  A.  Krecker, 

Pastor  of  Ebenezer  Evangelical 
Church,  „ 

AUentown,   Pa. 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES 


The  Rev.  Judson  H.  Lamb, 

Publishing  Agent  of  Evangelical 
Association, 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  H.  C.  Lilly, 

Pastor  of  Cherry  Street  Church 
of  the  Evangelical  Association, 

Norristown,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  A.  D.  Pfost, 

P.astor  of  Flushing  Avenue  Evan- 
gelical  Church, 

Brooklyn,  N.  T. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Philipbar, 

Pastor     of     Fifty-fifth     Street 
Church, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  P.  Sprang,  D.D., 
Editor  of   the   "Evangelical  Mes- 
senger," 

Cleveland,   Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  L.  Wentz, 

Presiding  Elder  of  the  Allentown 
District,  East  Pennsylvania  Con- 
ference of  the  Evangelical  Asso- 
ciation, 

Allentown,  Pa. 


EVANGELICAL  CHURCH  "Evan- 
gelische  Kirche,"  better  knoion  in 
America  by  the  name  "GERMAN 
EVANGELICAL  SYNOD  OF 
NORTH  AMERICA." 

Delegates  appointed  at  the  Gen- 
eral Synod,  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Sep- 
tember 22,  1905. 

The  Rev.  John  Baltzer,  D.D., 
Pastor     of     Zion     Evangelical 
Church, 

St.   Liouis,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  Th.  Bode, 

Pastor   of   St.    Peter    Evangelical 
Church, 

Buffalo,  N.  T. 

The  Rev.  P.  A.  Menzel, 

Pastor   of   Concordia   Evangelical 
Church, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Noehren, 

Pastor     of     Zion     Evangelical 
Church, 

New  York  City. 

The  Rev.  W.  Schaefer, 

Pastor   of   St.    Peter    Evangelical 
Church, 

Allegheny,  Pa. 


SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS. 

Professor  George  A.  Barton,  Ph.D., 
Bryn    Mawr    College, 

Bryn  Mawr,  Pa. 


Mr.  Lewis  Lyndon  Hobbs, 

Presiding  Clerk  of  the  North 
Carolina   Yearly    Meeting. 

Professor  Rufus  M.  Jones, 
Haverford  College, 

Haverford,  Pa. 

President  Robert  L.  Kelley, 

President  of  Earlham  College, 

Barlham,    Ind. 

Mr.  John  G.  Thomas. 

Mr.  James  Wood, 

President  of  New  York  Yearly 
Meeting  of  the  Religious  Society 
of  Friends, 

Mt.  Kisco,  N.  Y. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH. 

Delegates  appointed  by  the  action 
of  the  General  Synod  at  their  annual 
meeting,    1905. 

The  Rev.  Charles  S.  Albert,  D.D., 
Editor   of  the   Periodicals   of   the 
Lutheran  Publication  Board, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  W.  M.  Baum,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  St.  Mark's  Church, 

Canajoharie,    N.    Y. 

The  Rev.  David  H.  Bauslin,  D.D., 
President    of   the   General    Synod 
of     the     Lutheran     Church,     and 
Professor  in  the  Theological  De- 
partment,   Wittenberg    College, 

Springfield,   Ohio. 

Mr.  H.  A.  Bade, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  E.  K.  Bell,  D.D., 

Pastor    of     the     First     Lutheran 
Church, 

Baltimore,   Md. 

The  Rev.  W.  H.  Dunbar,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  St.   Mark's   Church, 

Baltimore,  Md. 

The  Rev.  E.  H.  Delk,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  St.  Matthew's  Church, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mr.  E.  F.  Eilert, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Harlan  K.  Fenner,  D.D., 
Pastor    of    the    Second    Lutheran 
Church, 

Louisville,   Ky. 

The  Rev.  W.  S.  Freas,  D.D., 

Assistant  Pastor  in  the  Deaconess 
Motherhouse, 

Baltimore,  Md. 

Mr.  James  Fellows, 


New   York. 


654 


CHURCH    FEDERATION 


The  Hon.  C.  N.  Oaumer, 

Mansfield,   Ohio. 

The  Rev.  D.  M.  Gilbert,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Zion   Church, 

Harrisburg,    Pa. 

The  Rev.   F.   W.   Gotwald, 

Secretary  of   the   Board   of   Edu- 
cation, 

York,    Pa. 

The  Hon.  Peter  S.  Grosscup, 

Judge   of  the   United   States   Cir- 
cuit  Court, 

Chicago,  111. 

The  Rev.  C.  W.  Heisler,  D.D., 

Pastor    of    the    First    Lutheran 
Church, 

Albany,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  ./,  Walter  Hay, 

Allegheny,    Pa. 

F.  A.  Hartranft,  Esq., 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Hon.  John  Hubner, 

Baltimore,  Md. 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Kauffman,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Grace  Church, 

Monroe,  Wis. 

The  Rev.  F.  H.  Knubel, 

Pastor    of    the    Church    of    the 

Atonement,     Edgecombe    Avenue, 

New  York. 

Mr.  C.  A.  Kunkel, 


Harrisburg,   Pa. 


The  Hon.  Horace  Lehr, 
Mayor, 

Easton,  Pa. 

E.  S.  Luckenbach,  Esq., 

Hudson,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  William  J.  Miller, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  W.  E.  Parson,  D.D.. 

Pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Re- 
formation, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Rev.  J.  B.  Remensnyder,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  St.  James'   Church,   900 
Madison  Avenue, 

New  York. 

Mr.  I.  S.  Runyon, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  W.  E.  Stahler.  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Zion  Church, 

Lebanon,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  J.  A.  Sinqmaster,  D.D., 
President    of    the    General    Theo- 
logical Seminary, 

Gettysburg,  Pa. 


Mr.  T.  B.  Stork, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 
W.  C.  Stoever,  Esq., 

President   of   the   Luther  League 
of  America, 

Philadelphia,  Pa, 
Mr.  J.  G.  C.  Taddiken, 

New  York  City. 
Mr,  Charles  Unangst, 

New  York  City. 
The  Rev.  M.  H.  Valentine.   D.D 
Editor    of     "The    Lutheran     6b- 

Philadelphla,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  George  U.  Wenner,  D.D, 
Pastor  of  Christ  Church,  Presi- 
aent  of  the  Synod  of  New  York 
and   New   Jersey, 

New  York. 
The  Rev.  J.  J.  Young,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  St.   John's   Church, 

New  York  City. 

jviennonite  church. 

Delegates  appointed  by  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  held  in  Berne,  Ind., 
November,  1905. 

The  Rev.  A.  B.  Shelly, 

Quakertown,    Pa. 


The  Rev.  A.  S.  Shelly, 


Bally,   Pa. 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
the  General  Conference  held  at  Los 
Angeles,  California,  May,  1904. 

The    Rev.    Bishop    Edward  G.    An- 
drews, D.D.,  LL.D., 

■^'^^?P^J'*  ,"^e  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  ^ 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  C.  E.  Bacon,  D.D.. 

Presiding  Elder  Indianapolis  Dis- 
trict,   Indiana    Conference, 

Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Mr.  Horace  Benton, 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The   Rev.   J.    W.    E.   Bowen.   PhD 
D.D., 

Professor  of  Historical  Theology 
in  Gammon  Theological  Semi- 
nary. Secretary  of  Stewart  Mis- 
sionary Foundation  for  Africa. 
Editor     of     -The     Voice     of    the 

Atlanta,   Ga. 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES 


655 


Mr.  Samuel  \V.  Bo\vne. 

President  of  the  New  York  City 
Church  Extension  and  Mission- 
ary Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  George  H.  Bridarman,  D.D. 
LL.D.. 
President  of  Hamline  University, 
Hamline,   Minn. 

The  Rev.  Frank  M.  Bristol,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Metropolitan  Memorial 
Methodist   Episcopal   Church, 

Washington,    D.    C. 

Mr.  A.  B.  Browne, 

President  of  the  Methodist  Union 
of  the   District  of  Columbia, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Rev.  James  M.  Bucklev.  D.D.. 
LL.D., 

Editor  of  "The  Christian  Ad- 
vocate," 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Henry  A.  Buttz,  D.D., 

President    of     Drew     Theological 

Seminary, 

Madison,  N.  J. 

The    Rev.    Bishop    Earl    Cranston, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 
Bishop    of    the    Methodist     Epis- 
copal Church, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

Mr.  Hanford  Crawford, 

St.   Louis,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  S.  M.  Dick,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Trinity  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church, 

Worcester,  Mass. 

Samuel  Dickie,  LL.D., 

President   of  Albion   College. 

Albion,  Mich. 

The  Rev.  George  P.  Eckman.  D.D., 
Pastor  of  St.  Paul's  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  George  Elliott,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Central  Methodist  Epis- 
copal  Church, 

Detroit,  Mich. 

The   Rev.    Bishop    Cyrus    D.    Foss, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 
Bishop    of    the    Methodist    Epis- 
copal  Church, 

Philadelphia.  Pa. 

The  Rev.   Bishop   Chas.   H.   Fowler, 
D.D.,   LL.D.. 

Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church, 

New  York. 


The  Rev.  Luther  Freeman,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  First  Methodist  Epis- 
copal   Church, 

Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

The  Rev.  .John  Galbraith,  Ph.D., 

Presiding  Elder,  Boston  District 
New  England  Conference, 

Boston,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  Levi  Gilbert,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Editor  of  the  "Western  Cliris- 
tian   Advocate," 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Charles  L.  Goodell,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Calvary  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church, 

New   York. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  Daniel  A.  Goodsell, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 
Bishop    of    the    Methodist    Epis- 
copal  Church, 

Brookline,  Mass. 

The    Rev.   John   Franklin    Gaucher 
LL.D., 
President    of    the    Woman's    Col- 
lege of  Baltimore, 

Baltimore,    Md. 

Mr.  C.  H.  Harding, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  R.-v.  William  Ingraham  Haven, 

Secretary  of  the  American  Bible 
Society, 

New  York. 
H.  C.  M.  Ingraham,  LL.D., 

Brooklyn,    N.   Y. 
The  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Izer,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Calvary  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.   William  V.   Kelley,  DD 
L.H.D.,  ^       '    ■' 

Editor  of  the  "Methodist  Re- 
view," 

New  York. 

The    Rev.    James    M.    King,    D  D 
LL.D., 

Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Church  Extension  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The   Rev.    Adna   B.   Leonard,   D  D 
LL.D.. 

Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal   Church, 

New   York. 

The  Rev.  Wallace  MacMullen,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Madison  Avenue  Meth- 
odist  Episcopal   Church, 

New  York. 


656 


CHURCH    FEDERATION 


The  Rev.  Charles  M.  Melden,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Matthewson  Street 
Methodist  Episcopal   Church, 

Providence,  R.  I. 

The  Rev.  Charles   Bayard  Mitchell, 
D.D., 
Pastor   of   First   Methodist   Epis- 
copal Church, 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Mr.  John  R.  ]\Iott, 

Secretary  of  the  Foreign  Depart- 
ment, International  Committee 
Young   Men's    Christian    Associa- 

"°"-  New  York. 

The  Rev.  W.  L.  S.  Murray,  D.D., 
Pastor    of    St.    Paul's    Methodist 
Episcopal  Church, 
^        ^  Wilmington,  Del. 

The  Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.D., 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
National  City  Evangelization 
Union  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 

^^"^'=^'  New    York. 

The  Rev.  Paul  Bradford  Raymond, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 
President  of  Wesleyan  University, 
Middletown,  Conn. 

The  Rev.  George  Edward  Reed,  D.D., 
LL.D., 
President  of  Dickinson  College, 
Carlisle,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Reuss, 

Pastor    of    Blinn    Memorial    Ger- 
man Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
New  York. 

The  Rev.  Charles  F.  Rice,  D.D., 

Presiding   Elder,    Cambridge   Dis- 
trict, New  England  Conference, 
Newton,  Mass. 

Henry  Wade  Rogers,  LL.D., 

Dean  of  the  Law  School  of  Tale 
University,  ^  ^ 

New  Haven,  Conn. 

The  Rev.  Charles  W.  Smith,  D.D., 
LL.D., 

Editor  of  the  "Pittsburg  Chris- 
tian Advocate," 

Pittsburg,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  Henry  Spellmeyer, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 

Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  . 

Cincinnati,   Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Claudius  B.  Spencer,  D.D., 
Litt.D.,  LL.D., 
Editor  of  the   "Central  Christian 
Advocate," 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 


The  Rev.  C.  F.  Thornblade, 

Presiding  Elder,    New  York  Dis- 
trict,    Eastern     Swedish     Confer- 
ence, ,,        ^     , 
New  York. 

The  Rev.  Ezra  Squier  Tipple,  D.D., 
Professor  of  Practical  Theology, 
Drew  Theological  Seminary, 

Madison,   N.  J. 

The  Rev.  S.  W.  Trousdale,  D.D., 
Presiding  Elder,  Madison  District, 
West   Wisconsin   Conference, 

Madison,  Wis. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  John  H.  Vincent, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 
Bishop    of    the    Methodist    Epis- 
copal Church,  ,    ^ 
Indianapohs,  Ind. 

The  Rev.  George  B.  Wight.  D.D., 
Commissioner  of  Charities,   State 
of  New  Jersey,  ,    , 

Trenton,  N.  J. 


METHODIST  EPISCOPAL 
CHITRCH,  SOUTH. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
General  Conference  held  in  Dallas, 
Texas,  May,   1902. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  N.  Ainsworth,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Mulberry  Street  M.  E. 
Church,   South,  ^ 

Macon,  Ga. 

The  Rev.  A.  L.  Andrews, 

Pastor  of  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
Selma,  Ala. 

The  Rev.  W.  F.  Andrews,  A.M., 
Pastor   of   First    M.    E.    Church, 
South,  ,   , 

Little  Rock,  Ark. 

The  Rev.  James  Atkins,  D.D., 

Sunday   School  Editor,   Methodist 
Episcopal   Church,   South, 

Nashville,   Tenn. 

The  Rev.  C.  M.  Bishop,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
Columbia,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  Waller  E.  Bc^s. 

Pastor    of    First    M.    B.    Church, 
South, 

Shreveport,  La. 

Mr.  Robert  Emory  Blackwell,  LL.D., 
President  of  Randolph-Macon 
College, 

Ashland,  Va. 

The  Rev.  E.  B.  Chappell,  D.D., 

Pastor     of     McKendree     M.      E. 
Church.   South. 

Nashville,  Tenn. 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES 


657 


The  Rev.  Rufus  A.  Child,  D.D., 

Financial  Agent.  Wofford  College, 
Spartanburg,  S.  C. 

The  Rev.  W.  Asbury  Christian, 

Petersburg,  Va. 

The  Rev.  Jno.  R.  Deering,  D.D., 

Presiding  Elder.  Maysville  Dis- 
trict, Kentucky  Conference,  M.  E. 
Church,   South, 

Lexington,  Ky. 

The  Rev.  Charles  E.  Dowman,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  First  M.  E.  Church, 
South, 

Atlanta,  Ga. 

Mr.  B.  N.  Duke, 

Durham,  N.  C. 

The  Rev.  J.  S.  French, 

Pastor  Centenary  M.  E.  Church, 
South, 

Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

The  Rev.  8.  Fisher, 

President   Coronal  Institute, 

San  Marcos,  Texas. 

The   Rev.    Bishop    C.    B.    Galloway, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 
Bishop    of    the    Methodist    Epis- 
copal Church,  South, 

Jackson,  Miss. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  Eugene  R.  Hendrix, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 

Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South, 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 

The  Rev.   Thomas  N.  Ivey,  D.D., 
Editor  of  "Raleigh  Christian  Ad- 
vocate," „ 
Raleigh,    N.    C. 

The  Rev.  S.  S.  Keener,  D.D,, 

Jackson,  La. 

The  Rev.  John  C.  Kilgo.  D.D., 
President  of  Trinity  College, 

Durham,   N.    C. 

J.  H.  Kirkland,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 

Chancellor  of  Vanderbilt  Univers- 
ity, 

Nashville,  Tenn. 

The  Rev.  Percy  R.  Knickerbocker, 
Pastor    of   Grace    M.    E.    Church, 
South, 

Dallas,  Texas. 

The  Rev.  A.  J.  Lamar,  D.D., 

One  of  the  Book  Agents  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South, 

Nashville,  Tenn. 

The  Rev.  W.  R.  Lambuth,  D.D., 

Nashville,  Tenn. 


The  Rev.  J.  H.  McCoy, 

Pastor  Five  Points  M.  E.  Church, 
South, 

Birmingham,  Ala, 

The  Rev.  Oeorge  McGlumphy,  Ph.D., 

Pastor  of  M.    E.    Church,   South, 

Dardanelle,   Ark. 

The  Rev.  W.  F.  McMurry,  D.D., 

PEistor  of  Centenary  M.  B. 
Church,  South, 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  E.  O.  B.  Mann, 

Presiding  Elder  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  Lexington  District,  Ken- 
tucky Conference, 

Lexington,  Ky. 

The  Rev.  James  C.  Morris,  D.D., 
President  of  Central  College, 

Fayette,    Mo. 

The  Rev.  W.  B.  Murrah,  D.D., 
President  of  Millsap  College, 

Jackson,  Miss. 

The  Rev.  W.  L.  Nelms,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
Georgetown,  Texas. 

The  Rev.  W.  B.  Palmore,  D.D., 

Editor  of  the  "St.  Louis  Chris- 
tian Advocate"  of  the  M.  B. 
Church,   South. 

St.   Louis,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  Ira  S.  Patterson, 

Presiding  Elder,  Tampa  District, 
Florida  Conference,  M.  E. 
Church,  South, 

Dade  City.  Fla. 

The  Rev.  E.  H.  Pearce,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
Danville,    Ky. 

The  Rev.  W.  K.  Finer, 

Pastor  of   M.    E.    Church,    South, 
Oklahoma  City,  Okla. 

The  Rev.  Thos.  N.  Potts,  D.D.. 

Pastor  of  Trinity  M.  B.  Church, 
South, 

Salisbury,    Md. 

The  Rev.  Edwin  P.  Ryland, 

Pastor  of  Trinity  'm.  E.  Church, 
South, 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

P.  E.  Saunders,  Ph.D., 

Oxford,  Miss. 

The  Rev.  Geo.  S.  Sexton, 

Pastor  of  Central  M.  E.  Church, 
South. 

Galveston,  Texas. 

Henry  Nelson  Snyder,  Litt.D.,  LL.D., 

President    of   WofCord    College, 

Spartanburg,    S.   C. 


658 


CHURCH    FEDERATION 


The  Rev.  John  D.  Simpson,  D.D., 

Presiding  Elder,  Florence  Dis- 
trict, N.  Alabama  Conference,  M. 
E.  Church,  South, 

Florence,  Ala. 

W.  W.  Smith,  LL.D., 

President  of  Randolph-Macon 
Woman's   College, 

Lynchburg,  Va. 

The  Rev.  E.  M.  Sweet,  Jr., 

La-wton,  Oklahoma. 

The  Rev.  .Tno.  J.  Tigert,  D.D.,  LL.D.. 
Book  Editor  and  Editor  of  the 
"Methodist  Quarterly  Review," 
Secretary  of  the  General  Con- 
ference of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South, 

Nashville,  Tenn. 

The  Rev.  T.  S.  Wade,  D.D., 

Editor  of  the  "Western  Virginia 
Methodist    Advocate," 

Barboursville,  W.  Va. 

The  Rev.   Fletcher   Walton, 

Pastor  of  First  M.  E.  Church, 
South, 

La  Grange,  Ga. 

The    Rev.    Richard    G.    Waterhouse, 
D.D., 
President    of    Emory    and    Henry 
College, 

Emory,    Va. 

The  Rev.  A.  F.  Watkins.  D.D.. 

Presiding  Elder  of  the  Jackson 
District,  Mississippi  Conference, 
M.    E.    Church,    South, 

Jackson,   Miss. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  A.  W.  Wilson,  D.D.. 

Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal  Church,    South, 

Baltimore,   Md. 

The  Rev.  G.  B.  Winton,  D.D., 

Editor  of  "The  Christian  Advo- 
cate." 

Nashville,  Tenn. 


Ihe  Rev.  Bishop  James  A.   Handy, 
D.D., 
Bishop   of    African    Methodist 
Episcopal  Church, 

Baltimore,   Md. 

The  Rev.  T.  Wellington  Henderson, 
D.D., 
Pastor  of  Bethel  African  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church, 

New   York. 

The  Rev.  John  Hurst,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Waters  African  Metho- 
dist Episcopal   Church, 

Baltimore,   Md. 

The  Rev.  J.  Albert  Johnson,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  St.  John's  Church, 

Baltimore,   Md. 

Prof.  H.  T.  Kealing,  Ph.D.. 

Editor     of     "African     Methodist 
Episcopal    Review,"  _^ 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Edward  W.  Lampton,  D.D., 
Financial  Secretary  of  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Washington,   D.   C. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  Benjamin  F.  Lee, 
D.D., 
Bishop      of      African      Methodist 
Episcopal  Church, 

Wilberforce,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  J.  8.  Lee,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Trinity  African  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church, 

Pittsburg,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  I.  W.  L.  Roundtree, 

Presiding    Elder    of    New    Jersey 
Conference, 

Trenton,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  J.  M.  Towmend.  D.D., 

Pittsburg,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  S.  Timothy  Tice.  D.D., 
Presiding    Elder    in     New     York 
Conference,  _ 

Brooklyn,  N.  T. 


AFRICAN    METHODIST    EPISCO- 
PAL CHURCH. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
General  Conference,  Chicago,  1904. 

The    Rev.    Bishop    W.    B.    Derrick, 
D.D..  LL.D., 

Bishop      of      African      Methodist 
Episcopal   Church, 

New   York. 

Professor  H.  T.  Arnett, 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  Wesley  J.  Gaines.  D.D., 
Bishop  of  African  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church, 

Atlanta,   Ga. 


AFRICAN   METHODIST    EPISCO- 
PAL ZION  CHLTICH. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  John  W.  Alstock, 
D.D., 
Bishop  of  the  African   Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion   Church. 

Montgomery,  Ala. 

The  Rev.  G.  L.  Blackwell,  D.D., 
General   Secretary,  _ 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The    Rev.    Bishop    J.    S.    Caldwell, 
D.D., 
Bishop  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Church,  _ 

Philadelphia.  Pa. 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES 


The   Rev.    Sylvester   L.    Carrothers, 

D.D., 

jPastor      of      Galbraith      African 

Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church, 

Washington,   D.   C. 

The  Rev.  G.  C.  Clement,  D.D., 
Editor   "Star  of  Zion," 

Charlotte,    N.    C. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  George  Wvlie  Clin- 
ton, D.D., 
Bishop  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Church,  Chair- 
man of  Church  Extension  Gen- 
eral  Committee, 

Charlotte,  N.   C. 

The  Rev.  C.  D.  Hazel,  D.D.. 

Atlantic  City,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  J.  W.  Hood,  D.D. 
LL.D., 

Bishop  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Church, 

Fayetteville,  N.  C. 

The  Rev.  F.  M.  Jacobs.  D.D., 

Pastor    of    Fleet    Street    African 

Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church, 

Brooklyn,   N.   Y. 

The  Rev.  E.  D.  W.  Jones,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Walters  African  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Zion  Church, 

Chicago,    111. 

The  Rev.  J.  Francis  Lee,  A.jVI., 

Pastor    of    Metropolitan    African 

Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church, 

Norfolk,  Va. 

The  Rev.  R.  A.  Morrisey,  D.D.. 

Pastor  of  Wesley  African   Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Zion  Church, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  J.  W.  Smith.  D.D.. 
Bishop  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Church, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  A.  Walters.  D.D., 
Bishop  of  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Zion  Church, 

Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  B.  F.  Wheeler.  D.D., 
Pastor  of  State  Street  Church, 

Mobile,  Ala. 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST 
CHURCH. 

The  Rev.  W.  H.  Yarrow,  D.D.. 

Pastor     of     Primitive     Methodist 
Church, 

Fall  River,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  John  Bath, 

Pastor     of     Primitive     Methodist 
Church, 

Priceburg,  Pa. 


METHODIST  PROTESTANT. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
General  Conference,  1904. 

The  Hon.  W.   C.  Adamson,  M.C., 

Carrollton,    Ga. 

The  Rev.  B.  W.  Anthony,  D.D., 

Adrian,  Mich. 

The  Rev.  M.  L.  Jennings,  D.D., 

Editor    of    "The    Methodist    Re- 
corder," Official  Organ  of  Church, 
Pittsburg,  Pa. 

The  Rev.    T.   H.   Letcis,   D.D., 

Westminster,  Md. 
The  Rev.  W.  M.  Poisal. 

Baltimore,   Md. 

The  Rev.  A.  L.  Reynolds,  D.D., 

Sabina,  Ohio. 

The   Rev.   George   Shaffer,    D.D., 

Bethlehem,    Pa. 

The  Rev.  C.  D.  Sinkinson,  D.D., 

Atlantic  City,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  D.  S.  Stephens,  D.D., 

Chancellor  of  Kansas  City  Uni- 
versity, 

Kansas  City,  Kans. 

The  Rev.  W.  M.  Strayer, 

Oxford,    Md. 

The  Rev.  F.  T.  Tagg,  D.D., 

President  of  the  General  Con- 
ference and  Editor  of  the  "Meth- 
odist Protestant," 

Baltimore.    Md. 


MORAVIAN  CHURCH. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
the  Executive  Board  of  the  Church. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  J.  M.  Levering, 

Bishop   of   the    Moravian    Church 
and    President    of    the    Executive 
Board  of  the  Moravian  Church, 
Bethlehem,    Pa. 

The  Rev.  Morris  W.  Leibert,  D.D., 
Vice-President  of  the  Executive 
Board  of  the  Moravian  Church 
and  Pastor  of  the  First  Moravian 
Church, 

New  York. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Charles  L.  Moench, 
Bishop  of  the  Moravian   Church, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  John  S.  Romig, 

Editor  of  "The  Little  Missionary," 
and  Pastor  of  the  Moravian 
Church  at  Great  Kills, 

New  York. 


CHURCH    FEDERATIO^^ 


The  Rev.  W.  Henry  Rice,  D.D., 

Chairman    of   the    Third   District, 
Board  of  the  Moravian  Church, 
Gnadenhuetten,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Paul  de  Schweinitz, 

Secretary    and    Treasurer    of   the 
Executive  Board  of  the  Moravian 
Church    and    Secretary    of    Mis- 
sions, „ 
Bethlehem,   Pa, 


THE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH 
IN  THE  U.  S.  A. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
their  General  Assembly  held  in  Buf- 
falo, N.  Y.,  May,  1904. 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  L.  Agnew,  D.D., 
LL.D., 

Corresponding    Secretary    of    the 
Board    of   Relief    of    the    Presby- 
terian  Church,  _ 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Robert  L.  Bachman,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Second  Presbyteriaai 
Church, 

Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Hon.  James  A.  Beaver,  LL.D., 

Brevet  Brig.-Gen.  U.  S.  Vols., 
Grovemor  of  Pennsylvania  1887- 
18W.,  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court 
of  Pennsylvania  since  1895, 

Bellefonte,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  J.  Gray  Bolton,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Hope  Presbyterian 
Church, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The    Rev.    Arthur    Judson    Brown, 
D.D., 

Secretary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board   of   Foreign   Missions, 

156   Fifth   Ave.,    New   York. 

The  Rev.  John  F.  Carson,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  the  Central  Presby- 
terian Church, 

Brooklyn,  N.  T. 

The  Rev.  William  Carter,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  First  Presbyterian 
Church, 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 

The    Rev.    William    Y.     Chapman, 
D.D., 
Pastor   of   the   Roseville   Presby- 
terian Church,  ^    , 

Newark,  N.  J. 

John  H.  Converse,  LL.D., 

Chairman  of  the  Evangelistic 
Committee  of  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  _ 

Philadelphia,   Pa. 


The  Rev.  Robert  Francis  Coyle,  D.D., 
LL.D.. 
Pastor  of  the  Central  Presby- 
terian Church,  Denver,  Colo. 
Former  Moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly,  1908, 

Denver,  Col. 

The  Rev.  Stephen  W.  Dana,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Walnut  Street  Presby- 
terian Church, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Timothy  Grenville  Darling, 
D.D., 

Professor  of   Christian   Theology, 
Auburn    Theological   Seminary, 

Auburn,   N.   Y. 

The  Rev.  John  DeWitt,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Professor     of     Church     History, 

Princeton  Theological   Seminary, 

Princeton,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  Charles  A.  Dickey,  D.D., 
LL.D., 
Co-Pastor  of  Bethany  Presby- 
terian Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Former  Moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly,   1900. 

The  Rev.  Howard  Duffield,  D.D., 
Pastor      of      First      Presbyterian 
Church,  ^^        ^    , 

New  York. 

Mr.  H.  C.  Gara, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Matthias  L.  Haines,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  First  Presbyterian 
Church, 

Indianapolis,   Ind. 

The    Rev.    Charles    Cuthbert  Hall, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 
President  and  Professor  of  Hom- 
Uetics,    Union    Theological    Semi- 
nary, 

New    York. 

The   Rev.    Rnuben   Haines   Hartley, 
D.D.. 
Pastor    of    Westminster    Presby- 
terian Church.  ^      ^ 
Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

The  Rev.  J.  Addison  Henry,  D.D., 
LL.D., 

Pastor  of  Princeton  Presby- 
terian Church,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Former  Moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly,  1904. 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  Lewis  Hobson, 
D.D., 

Chicago,   HI. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Hunter,  D.D., 

Pastor  Union  Tabernacle  Presby- 
terian Church,  .      .,^ 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES 


661 


The  Rev.  W.  Beatty  Jennings,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  First  Presbyterian 
Church, 

Detroit,    Mich. 

The  Rev.  Amos  A.  Kiehle,  D.D., 
Paator   of    Calvary    Presbyterian 
Church. 

Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Hon.  William  M.  Lanning, 

United  States  Judge  for  District 
of  New  Jersey, 

Trenton,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  E.  Trumbull  Lee,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Chambers-Wylie  Pres- 
byterian Church, 

Philadelphia,    Pa. 

The  Rev.  Matthew  B.  Lowrie,  D.D., 
President  of  Omaha  Theological 
Seminary, 

Omaha,  Neb. 

The  Rev.  Henry  C.   McCook,   D.D., 
Sc.D., 

Devon,  Pa. 

Mr.  S.  S.  Marvin, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  James  D.  MoflFat,  D.D., 
LL.D.. 
President  of  Washington  and  Jef- 
ferson College,  Washington,  Pa. 
Moderator  of  the  General  As- 
sembly,  1905. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  J.  NiccoUs,  D.D., 
LL.D., 

Pastor  of  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  St.  Louis,  Mo.;  President 
Board  of  Directors  McCormick 
Theological  Seminary,  Chicago. 
Former  Moderator  of  Greneral  As- 
sembly.  1872. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Noble,  D.D., 
1323  Liinwood  Ave., 

Los   Angeles,    Cal. 

Hon.  Daniel  R.  Noyes, 

Member  Board  of  Regents  State 
University  of  Minnesota.  Former 
Vice-Moderator  of  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,   1902, 

St.   Paul.   Minn. 

The  Rev.  W.  N.  Page.  D.D., 

Pastor  of  First  Presbyterian 
Church, 

Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

Mr.  Elisha  H.  Perkins, 

Baltimore,  Md. 

The  Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.D., 
LL.D., 
Pastor  of  New  York  Avenue  Pres- 
byterian Church.  Former  Moder- 
ator of  the  General  Assembly, 
1898, 

Washington,  D.  C. 


The  Rev.  Wm.  R.  Richards,  D.D., 
Pastor     of     Brick     Presbyterian 
Church, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  Henry  Roberts,  D.D., 
LL.D., 
Stated  Clerk  and  Treasurer,  and 
Chairman  of  Committee  on  Union, 
General  Assembly  Presbyterian 
Church.  U.  S.  A.  American 
Secretary  Alliance  of  Reformed 
Churches  throughout  the  world, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Charles  L.  Thompson,  D.D., 
Secretary  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Home  Missions,  New  York. 
Former  Moderator  of  the  General 
Assembly,  1888, 

New  York. 

The    Rev.    William    0.    Thompson, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 

President  of  Ohio  State  Univers- 
ity. 

Columbus,  Ohio. 

Reuben  Tyler,  Esq., 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The   Rev.   David   J.    Sanders,    D.D., 
LL.D., 

President  of  Biddle  University 
and  Professor  of  Systematic  and 
Ecclesiastical  Theology.  Editor 
of  the  "Afro-American  Presby- 
terian." 

Mr.  Louis  H.  Severance, 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The    Rev.    Frank    Woolford    Sneed, 
D.D., 
Pastor   of   East   Liberty   Presby- 
terian Church, 

Pittsburg,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  J.  Ross  Stevenson,  D.D., 
Pastor  of   Fifth   Avenue   Presby- 
terian Church, 

New  York  City. 

The   Rev.   Paul   Frederick   Sutphen, 
D.D., 
Pastor    of    Second     Presbyterian 
Church, 

Cleveland,   Ohio. 

Mr.  Thos.  W.  Synnott, 

Wenonah,  N.  J. 

Hon.  John  Wanamaker, 

Former  Postmaster-General  of 
the  United  States. 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Mr.  Edwin  S.  Wells, 

Lake  Forest,  111. 
The  Rev.  Henry  van  Dyke,  D.D., 
LL.D., 
Murray  Chair  of  Elnglish  Liter- 
a  t  u  r  e,  Princeton  University. 
Former  Moderator  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  1902, 

Princeton,   N.  J. 


662 


CHURCH    FEDERATIO'S 


CUMBERLAND    PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
the  General  Assembly. 

The  Rev.  W.  H.  Black,  D.D., 

Marshall,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  D.  E.  Bushnell,  D.D., 

Alton,  111. 

The  Rev.  J.  E.  Clarke,  D.D., 

Cumberland     Presbyterian     Pub- 
lishing House, 

Nashville,   Tenn. 

The  Rev.  W.  J.  Darly,  D.D., 

Evansville,   Ind. 

The  Rev.  G.  W.  Eichelberger, 

Fort  Smith,  Ark. 

The  Rev.  E.  W.  Craves, 

Irvington,   Ky. 

The  Rev.  J.  R.  Harris, 

Pittsburg,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  K.  Howe, 

Kansas   City,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  J.  M.  Hubbert,  D.D., 

Stated     Clerk     of     General  As- 
sembly,                        ,,       ,    „  ,, 
Marshall,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  R.  L.  Irv'ine, 

Punxsutawney,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  J.  R.  McMullen. 

Gadsden,  Ala. 

The  Rev.  J.  A.  McKamy, 

Nashville,  Tenn. 

The  Rev.  J.  G.  Miller. 

Westchester.  Ohio. 


The  Rev.  R.  T.  Phillips, 

Ennis,   Tex. 

Hon.  W.  L.  Welcker, 

Knoxville,   Tenn. 


UNITED     PRESBYTERIAN 

CHURCH  OF  NORTH 

AMERICA. 

Delegates    appointed    by    action 
of  their  General  Assembly,  1905. 

The  Rev.  R.  H.  Acheson, 

Pastor     of     United     Presbyterian 

^"'■'=^'  W.  Hoboken,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  C.  S.  Cleland, 

Pastor  of  Second  United  Presbv- 
terian    Church,    and    Secretary    of 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


The  Rev.  J.  G.  D.  Findley,  D.D., 
Pastor     of     United     Presbyterian 
Church, 

Newburgh,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  M.  G.  Kyle,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Seventh  United  Presby- 
terian Church  and  President  of 
the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 

Frankford,  Philadelphia. 

The  Rev.  W.  S.  McEachron,  D.D., 
Pastor     of     the     Hebron     United 
Presbyterian   Church, 

West  Hebron,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  James  Parker,  Ph.D., 

Pastor  of  Second  United  Presby- 
terian   Church, 

Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  W.  L.  C.  Samson, 

Pastor  of  United  Presbyterian 
Church, 

Bovina  Center,  N.  Y. 

The  Re^^  J.  P.  Sankey,  D.D., 

Former  Moderator  of  the  General 

Assembly,  _ 

Rochester,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Scouller,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  United  Presbyterian 
Church, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The     Rev.     T.     B.     Turnbull,    D.D. 
(Chairman), 

Pastor  of  Dales  Memorial  Church, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


REFORMED  PRESBYTERIAN. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action 
of  the  "General  Synod  of  the  Re- 
formed Presbyterian   Church," 

The  Rev.  David  Steele.  D.D..  LL.D.. 
Pastor  of  the  Fourth  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  Pro- 
fessor of  Systematic  Theology  in 
Philadelphia  Theological  Semi- 
nary, 

Philadelphia,    Pa. 

The  Rev.  .James  Dallas  Steele,  Ph.D.. 
Pastor  of  the  First  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church,  New  York, 
and  Professor  of  Old  Testament 
Literature  and  Church  History  in 
Philadelphia  Theological  Seml- 
ary. 

New    York. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Waiters,  D.D., 
Pastor   of    First    Reformed    Pres- 
byterian Church, 

Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Mr.  Robert  Abbott, 

New  York. 

Dr.  Alexander  Ennis, 

Pattersonville,  N.  Y. 


ROLL  OF  DELEGATES 


PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL. 

The  following  delegates  were  ap- 
pointed from  the  Commission  on 
Christian  Unity  ( elected  by  the  Gen- 
eral Convention  held  in  Boston, 
Mass.,  October,  1904)  as  their  repre- 
sentatives in  the  Inter-Church  Con- 
ference. 

The  Et.  Eev.  O.  W.  Whitaker,  D.D., 
LL.D., 

Bishop    of   the   Diocese   of   Penn- 
sylvania, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rt.  Eev.  Cortlandt  Whitehead. 
D.D., 
Bishop    of   the    Diocese   of   Pitts- 
burg, 

Pittsburg,   Pa. 

The    Et.    Eev.    Thomas    A.    Jaggar, 
D.D., 

Boston,   Mass. 

Mr.  George  Wharton  Pepper, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Eev.  Arthur  Lawrence,  D.D., 
Rector   of  St.    Paul's. 

Stockbridge,  Mass. 

The  Eev.  H.  H.  Oberly,  D.D., 
Rector  of  Christ  Church, 

Elizabeth,  N.  J. 

Bernard  Carter,  Esq., 

Baltimore,  Md. 

J.  H.  Stotsenburg,  Esq., 

New  Albany,  Ind. 


EEFOEMED  ESPISCOPAL. 

The  Et.  Eev.  W.  T.  Sabine,  D.D.. 

Bishop  of  the  Reformed  Epis- 
copal Church, 

New  York. 

The  Eev.  E.  L.  Endolph, 

Professor  of  Systematic  Theology, 
Biblical  Theology  and  Christian 
Ethics.  Seminary  of  the  Re- 
formed Episcopal   Church, 

Philadelphia,   Pa. 


EEFOEMED  CHUECH  IN 
A^IERICA. 

Delegates  appointed  by  General 
Synod,  1904. 

The  Eev.  William  H.  Boocock, 

Pastor  of  First  Reformed  Church, 
Bayonne,  N.  J. 


The  Eev.  Alfred  H.  Brush,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  New  Utrecht  Reformed 
Church, 

Brooklyn,    N.   Y. 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  E.  Dickhaut, 
Pastor     of     First     Harlem     Col- 
legiate Reformed   Church, 

New  York. 

The  Eev.  Joachim  Elmendorf.  D.D., 
Senior  Pastor  of  Harlem  Col- 
legiate Reformed   Church, 

New  York. 

The  Eev.  John  Gerardus  Fagg,  D.D., 
Minister  of  Collegiate  Reformed 
Dutch  Church,  New  York.  In 
specific  charge  of  the  Middle  Col- 
legiate Church,  2d  Ave.  and  Sev- 
enth St., 

New   York. 

The  Rev.  Mancius  H.  Button,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Second  Reformed 
Church, 

New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 
President  of  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  Reformed  Church  in 
America. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Hanna  Mackenzie, 
Pastor  of   Reformed   Church, 

Flushing,    N.   Y. 

The  Rev.  Edward  G.  Read,  D.D., 
Pastor     of     Second     Reformed 
Church, 

Somerville,    N.   J. 

The  Rev.  James  I.  Vance,  D.D., 
Pastor     of     North     Reformed 
Church, 

Newark,    N.    J. 

The  Rev.  J.  G.  Van  Slyke.  D.D., 

Pastor      of      First      Reformed 
Church, 

Kingston^   N.   Y. 


EEFOR]VfED     CHURCH     IN     THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action 
of  General  Synod.  Ttiennial  Ses- 
sion, 1905. 

The  Rev.  Cyrus  Cort,  D.D.. 

Pastor    of    Pine    Run    Reformed 
Church, 

Apollo,  Armstrong  Co.,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  A.  E.  Dahlman,  D.D.. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

The  Hon.  M.  A.  Foltz, 

Chambersburg,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  W.  F.  Horstmeier,  D.D., 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  Rev.  J.  Spangler  Kieflfer.  D.D. 

Pastor  of  Zion  Reformed  Church, 

Hagerstown,  Md. 


CHURCH    FEDERATION 


The  Rev.  Rufus  W.  Miller,  D.D., 
Secretary  and  Editor  of  the  Sun- 
day    School     work     of     the     Re- 
formed    Church     in     the     United 
States,  „ 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Cyrus  J.  Musser,  D.D., 
Editor  of  Reformed  Church  "Mes- 
senger," ,   ,  .      ^ 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  John  Hassler  Prugh,  D.D., 
Pastor  of  Grace  Reformed 
Church,  ^ 

Pittsburg,  Pa. 
Vice-President  of  Foreign  Mission 
Board  of  Reformed  Church.  Pres- 
ident of  the  General  Synod  of 
the  Reformed  Church  in  the 
United  States,  1902-5. 

The  Rev.  George  W.  Richards,  D.D., 
Professor     of     Church     History, 
Theological      Seminary      of      Re- 
formed Church  in  United  States, 
Lancaster,    Pa. 


The  Rev.  S.  W.  Seeman,  D.D., 

Pastor    of    Wilson    Avenue    Re- 
formed Church. 

Columbus,    Ohio. 


The  Rev.  Benj.  S.  Stern,  D.D., 

Stated     Clerk     of     the     General 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  Church, 
Reading,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  Benj.  S.  Stern,  D.D., 

Pastor    of    Emanuel's    Reformed 
Church,  _ 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  A.  S.  Weber,  D.D., 

Pastor  of  Faith  Reformed  Church, 
Baltimore,   Md. 


UNITED  EVANGELICAL 
CHURCH. 

The  Rev.  Rudolph  Dubs,  D.D.,LL.D., 
Editor  "Der  Evangelischen  Zeit- 
schrift,"  Bishop  of  the  United 
Evangelical  Church, 

Harrlsburg,    Pa. 

The  Rev.  Henry  B.  Hartzler,  D.D., 
Bishop  of  the  United  Evangelical 
Church, 

Harrlsburg,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  U.  F.  Swengel,  A.M., 

Lewisburg,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  J.  D.  Woodring,  D.D., 
President  of  Albright  College, 

Myerstown,  Pa. 


UNITED  BRETHREN  IN  CHRIST. 

Delegates  appointed  by  action  of 
General  Conference,  Topeka,  Kansas, 
1904. 

The  Rev.  J.  P.  Anthony, 

KeedysviUe,  Md- 

Hon.  E.  Benjamin  Bierman,  Ph.D., 
AnnvlUe,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  W.  A.  Dickson, 

Dillsburg,  Pa. 

Mr.  B.  H.  Engle, 

Harrlsburg,    Pa. 

The  Rev.  Robert  Hunter, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The    Rev.    Bishop    E.    B.    Kephart, 
D.D.,  LL.D., 
Bishop     of     United     Brethren 
Church,  .,,       -r. 

AnnviUe,    Pa. 

The  Rev.  Lawrence  Keister,  D.D., 
Peistor  of  United  Brethren 
Church,  „ 

Mt.  Pleasant,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  D.  R.  Miller,  D.D., 

Dayton,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  J.  S.  Mills,  D.D., 
LL.D., 
Bishop     of     United     Brethren 
Church, 

AnnvlUe,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  A.  H.  Reese, 

Huntington,  W.  Va. 

Mr.  C.  B.  Retten, 

Harrlsburg,  Pa. 

Mr.  James  H.  Ruebush, 

Dayton,   "Va. 

The  Rev.  Arthur  B.  Stratton, 

Pastor  of  St.  Paul's  United  Breth- 
ren Church, 

Hagerstown,  Md. 

The  Rev.  L.  W.  Stahl, 

Everson,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  W.  J.  Zuck,  D.D., 

Annville,    Pa. 


WELSH  PRESBYTERIAN. 

Delegates  appointed  by  the  action 
of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Ver- 
mont. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Roberts,  D.D., 

Pastor     of     Welsh     Presbyterian 

Church,  ,   „ 

New  York,  N.  Y. 

Mr.  William  A.  Rees, 

New  York,  N.  Y. 


THE    FOLLOWING    ALTERNATE     DELEGATES 
WERE    PRESENT: 


BAPTIST. 

The  Rev.  Russell  H.  Conwell,  D.D., 
Philadelphia,    Pa. 
Mr.  Percy  S.  Foster, 

Washington,    D.    C. 

The  Rev.  W.  N.  Hubbell, 

Springfield,  Mass. 
The  Rev.  Cyrus  A.  Johnson, 

Batavia,  N.  Y. 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  F.  Anderson,  D.D., 

New  York. 

Mr.  Wm.  H.  Beach, 

Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  S.  L.  Beiler,  D_D., 
Boston, 


FREE  BAPTIST. 
The  Rev.  E.  W.  Van  Aken,  D.D., 

"Winnebago,  Minn. 

Mr.  Harry  S.  Myers, 

Hillsdale,  Mich. 

The  Rev.  Z.  A.  Space, 

Keuka  Park,  N.  Y. 


"CHRISTIANS." 
The  Rev.  R.  Osman  Allen, 

Stanfordville,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  Marion  W.   Baker,  Ph.D., 
Springfield,  Ohio. 
The  Rev.  J.  G.  Bishop, 

Dayton,  Ohio. 
The  Rev.  P.  H.  Fleming, 
The  Rev.  C.  J.  Jones, 

Mason,  Ind. 
The  Rev.  Frazer  Metzgar, 

Randolph,    Vt. 


The  Rev.  C.  M.  Boswell,  D.D., 

Philadelphia,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  W.  H.  Brooks,  D.D., 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Bishop  William  Burt,  D.D., 
Zurich,  Switzerland. 

Henry  K.  Carroll,  LL.D., 

New  York. 

Professor  George  A.  Coe,  Ph.D., 

Evanston,  111. 

The  Rev.  R.  J.  Cooke,  D.D., 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  Rev.  A.  J.  Coultas,  D.D., 

Providence,    R.    I. 

The    Rev.    Daniel    Dorchester,    Jr. 
D.D., 

Pittsburg,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  David  G.  Downey,  D.D., 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


The  Rev.  F.  D.  Gamewell,  D.D., 

New  York. 
Mr.  John  Gribbel, 

Philadelphia,    Pa. 


Abram  W.  Harris,  LL.D., 

Port    Deposit,    Md. 


CONGREGATIONAL. 
The  Rev.  Robert  G.  Davey,  D.D., 

Upper  Montclair,  N.  J. 
The  Rev.  Charles  L.  Goodrich, 

Plainfleld,  N.  J. 
The  Rev.  Francis   L.   Havs,  D.D., 

TV,      p  A     ,    w    ?;°P^^'^^"»-       The  Rev.  Stephen  J.  Herben,  D.D. 

The    Rev.    Azel    Washburn    Hazen, 
D.D., 

Middletown,    Conn. 
Mr.  Arthur  S.  Johnson, 

Boston,   Mass. 
The  Rev.  H.  A.  Miner, 

Madison,  Wis.      Mr.  James  E.  Ingram 
The  Rev.  Edward  N.  Packard,  D.D., 
Stratford,  Conn. 
Tlie  Rev.  John  Simpson  Penman, 

Poughkeepsie,   N.  Y. 
The  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Selden.  D.D., 

Greenwich,  Conn. 
The  Rev.  William  F.  Stearns, 

Norfolk,   Conn. 


Mr.  Durbin  Home, 
Mr.  John  S.  Huyler, 


Chicago,    111. 
Pittsburg,   Pa. 


New  York. 


Baltimore,    Md. 

The  Rev.  J.  W.  Johnston,  D.D., 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  A.  G.  Kynett,  D.D., 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  A.  H.  Lucas,  D.D., 

Montclair,  N.  J. 


666  .   CHURCH    FEDERATION 

Tlae  Kev.  P.  J.  Maveety,  D.D.,  Mr.  A.  Noel  Blakeman, 

Michigan.  New  York. 

Mr.  Willis  McDonald,  j^.  B.  Brownell,  Esq., 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  New  Y'ork. 

The  Rev.  J.  T.  McFarland    LL.D  ^^^^  ^^   ^^j^^^  j^  Buchanan,  D.D., 

JNew   YorK.  ^^^  York. 

The  Rev.  E.  M.  Mills,  D.D.,  t,u      -o   n  v.u    i^  t^ 

Penn  Y'an,  N.  Y.       J^he  Rev.  Eben  B.  Cobb,  D.D., 

Elizabeth,   N.  J. 
The  Rev.  L.  H.  Murlin,  D.D., 

Baldwin,  Kansas.       The  Rev.  Lewis  Ray  Foote,  D.I)., 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
The  Rev.  A.  J.  Nast,  D.D., 

Cincinnati,  Ohio.       jyjj.   l.  G.  Fouse, 
The  Rev.  George  R.  Palmer,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 


Portland,    Me. 


The  Rev.  Robert  Mackenzie,  D.D. 


Mr.  James   W.   Pearsall,  New  York. 
Ridgewood,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Collin  Minton,  D.D., 

The  Hon.  George  G.  Reynolds,  LL.D.,  LL.D., 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Trenton,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  North  Rice,  LL.D.,  ^j^     ^        William    Henry    O.xtoby, 

Middletown,  Conn.  „  p.                                        j                .  > 

The   Rev.   Charles   Parkhurst,   D.Jl,  '                        Philadelphia.  Pa. 


Boston,   Mass. 

,  Robert  W. 
LL.D., 


The  Rev.  David  J.  Meese.  D.D., 
The   Rev,   Robert   W.   Rogers,   D.D.,  Mansfield,  Ohio. 


Madison,   N.  J.       Gen.  Louis  Wagner, 

Germantown,   Pa. 
The  Rev.  E.  P.  Stevens,  D.D., 

Albany,  N.  Y.       xiie  Rev.  Charles  Wood,  D.D., 
The  Rev.  George  E.  Strobridge,  D.D.,                                           Philadelphia,    Pa. 
New  York.  

Mr.  G.  W.  F.  Swartzell, 

Washington,  D.  C.  REFORMED     CHURCH     IN 

AJMERICA. 
The  Rev.  E.  M.  Taylor.  D.D., 

Boston,  Mass.       ^j^^  ^^^,    j^^^  ^    Conklin,  D.D.. 
Professor  John  M.  Van  Vleck,  LL.D.,  New  York. 

Middletown,  Conn.       ^,      ^        ■,„■■,,.        tt    t^    tt     i.    t-. -r. 
The  Rev.  William  H.  De  Hart.  D.D., 
The  Rev.  Herbert  Welch.  D.D.,  Raritan,   N.   J. 

Delaware,    Ohio. 

Professor      Caleb      T.      Winchester,  Neshanic,  N.  J. 
L.H.D., 

Middletown,   Conn.  xhe  Rev.  Henrv  Sluyter. 
The  Rev.  Charles  S.  Wing.  D.D..  ^^^*  Coxsackie.  N.  Y. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  ,^^^  ^^^^    ^^^^^.  ^y^^j 
Closter,  N.  J. 

PRESBYTERIAN      CHURCH      IN       The  Rev.  C.  S.  Wyckoff, 

THE  UNITED  STATES.  Brooklyn,  N.  T. 

The  Rev.  George  Alexander,  D.D..  The  Rev.  N.  H.  Van  Arsdale^D   D 

New  York.  ^^^    ^°^ 

Dr.  George  W.  Bailey,  The   Rev.   James   L.    Zwemer,   D.D., 

Philadelphia,  Pa.  Holland.  Mich. 


UNITED   PRESBYTERIAN 

CHURCH  OF  NORTH   AIiIERICA. 

Alternates. 

The  Rev.  W.  M.  Anderson, 

1516  Willington  St.,  Philadelphia. 

The   Rev.   Andrew   Henry,  D.D., 

Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

The  Rev.  McEhvee  Ross, 

Newark,  N.  J. 


JiOLL  OF  DELEGATES 

J.  J.  Porter,  Esq. 


Allegheny,    Pa. 


The  Rev.  J.  Howard  Tate, 


New  York. 


WELSH    PRESBYTERIAN. 

Mr.  William  Jones, 


HONORARY   DELEGATES 


HONORARY  CORRESPONDING 
MEJMBERS. 

Appointed   by  action   of  the   Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  the  Conference. 

Hon.  David   J.   Brewer,   LL.D., 

Justice  Supreme  Court  of  United 

"Washington,  D.  C. 

Hon.  M.  Linn  Bruce. 

Lieutenant-Governor    New    York 
State. 

The    Rt.    Rev.    Frederick    Burgess, 
D.D., 

Garden  City,  N.  Y. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Doane,  D.D., 
LL.D., 

Albany,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  James  M.  Farrar,  D.D., 

Brooklyn,   N.   Y. 

The  Rev.  James  I.  Good,  D.D., 

Reading,   Pa. 


The  Rt.  Rev.  David  H.  Greer,  D.D., 
New  York. 

The    Rev.    J.    Winthrop    Hegeman, 
Ph.D., 

Ballston  Spa,  N.  Y. 

The  Rev.  George  Hodges,  D.D.,D.C.L. 
Cambridge,  Mass. 

The  Rev.  Walter  Laidlaw,  Ph.D., 

New  York. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Wm.  Neilson  McVicar, 
S.T.D., 

Providence,  R.  L 

The  Rev.  John  P.  Peters,  D.D., 

New  York. 

Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer, 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  E.  M.  Stires,  D.D., 

New  York. 

The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.D., 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

President   Woodrow  Wilson.   LL.D., 
Princeton,  N.  J. 


COMMITTEES     OF     ARRANGEMENTS     FOR 
THE    CONFERENCE 


COMMITTEES  OF  ARRANGEMENTS   FOR  THE 
CONFERENCE 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

Rev.  W.  H.  Roberts.  D.D.,  LJj.D., 
Chairman. 

Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.D., 
Vice-Chairman. 

Rev.  Elias  B.  Sanford,  D.D.,  Secre- 
tary. 

Mr.   Alfred  R.  Kimball,   Treasurer. 

Rev.  Reese  F.  Alsop,  D.D., 

Rev.    B.    W.    Arnett,    D.D., 

Mr.    Stephen   Baker, 

Mr.    William    D.    Barbour, 

Mr.   W.  H.  Beach, 

Rev.   W.   H.   Boocock, 

Mr.   J.   Cleveland  Cady,   L.L.D., 

Rev.    John   B.    Calvert,    D.D., 

Rev.  Washington  Choate,  D.D., 

Mr.  W.  T.  Demarest, 

Rev.   John   B.   Devins,    D.D., 

Rev.   M.   E.   Dwight, 

Rev.  Joachim  Elmendorf,  D.D., 

Rev.    Lewis    Francis,    D.D., 

Mr.    Frederick   Frelinghuysen, 

Mr.    George   Griffiths, 

Silas   F.    Hallock,    M.D., 

Rev.    W^illiam   I.    Haven.    D.D., 

Rev.    Samuel    M.    Hamilton,    D.D., 

Rev.   M.   E.   Harlan, 

Mr.   Charles  E.   Hughes, 

Mr.  John  S.   Huyler, 

Mr.  H.  C.  M.  Ingraham, 

Rev.   R.   P.  Johnston,   D.D., 

Hon.    Charles   H.    Knox, 

Rev.   Morris  W.   Leibert,   D.D., 

Rev.    Rivington   D.    Lord,   D.D., 

Mr.    Alfred   E.    Marling, 

Rev.    Donald   Sage   Mackay,    D.D., 

Rev.    Wallace    MacMullen,    D.D., 

Mr.  Chas.  W.  McCutchen, 

Rev.   Rufus  W.   Miller,   D.D., 

Rev.  Henry  Mottet,   D.D., 

Rev.   H.   Noehren, 

Rev.  O.   W.   Powers,   D.D., 

Rev.   William   A.    Rice,    D.D.. 

Rev.    C.    D.    Sinkinson,    D.D., 

Rev.    S.   P.    Spreng,   D.D., 

Rev.    Chas.    L.    Thompson,    D.D., 

Rev.  E.  S.  Tipple,  D.D., 

Rev.  Kerr  Boyce  Tupper,  D.D., 

Mr.  Wm.  H.  Wanamaker, 

Rev.  Wm.  Hayes  Ward,  LL.D., 

Dr.   Lucien  C.   Warner, 

Rev.  Geo.  U.  Wenner,  D.D., 

Rev.    S.    T.   Willis. 

671 


PROGRAMME  COMMITTEE. 

Rev.  Wm.  Hayes  Ward,  DD.,  LL.D., 

Chairman. 
Rev.  W.  H    Boocock, 
Rev.   John  B.    Calvert,   D.D., 
Rev.   Morris  W.   Leibert,  D.D., 
Rev.    Rivington    D.    Lord,    D.D., 
Rev.   Henry  Mottet,  D.D., 
Rev.   Frank  Mason  North,   D.D., 
Rev.  Wm.  H.  Roberts,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Rev.  Geo.  U.   Wenner,   D.D., 
Rev.  E.  B.  Sanford,  D.D.,  Secretary. 


FINANCE  COMMITTEE. 

Mr.    Stephen   Baker,   Chairman. 

Mr.  C.   B.  Anderson, 

Mr.  George  W.  Bailey, 

Mr.    Samuel  W.    Bowne, 

Mr.   Charles  Hilton  Brown, 

Mr.   J.    M.   Cornell, 

Mr.   A.   H.   De  Haven, 

Mr.  James  May  Duane, 

Mr.   Scott  Foster, 

Mr.   Henry  Taylor  Gray, 

Mr.  John  S.   Huyler, 

Mr.   D.   Willis  James, 

Mr.    Morris    K.    Jesup, 

Mr.  Alfred  R.   Kimball. 

Mr.    J.    Edgar   Leaycraft, 

Mr.   Edgar  L.   Marston. 

Mr.  Henry  Lewis  Morris, 

Mr.  B.  E.  Olcott, 

Mr.  John  E.  Parsons, 

Mr.  J.  W.  Pearsall, 

Mr.   J.   E.  Pearce, 

Mr.    Charles    M.    Pratt, 

Mr.  Wm.  J.   Stitt, 

Mr.  James  Talcott. 

Mr.  Warner  Van  Norden, 

Mr.    Lucien    C.    Warner, 

Mr.   C.   A.  Zoebisch. 


HOSPITALITY  COMMITTEE. 

Rev.   E.    S.   Tipple,   D.D.,   Chairman. 

Rev.    H.   E.   Adriance, 

Rev.  Anson  P.   Atterbury,   D.D., 

Mr.   George  D.   Beattys, 

Rev.   Paul  T.  Beck,  D.D., 

Dr.  J.   A.   Bennett, 


672 


CHURCH    FEDERATION 


Mr.  S.  B.  Brownell, 

Rev.  S.  Parkes  Cadman,  D.D., 

Mr.    J.    Griffin    Daughtry, 

Rev.   J.   M.   Farrar,   D.D., 

Rev.  F.  M.  Goodchild,  I>.D., 

Rev.    Andrew   Gillies,    D.D., 

Rev.   I.   M.   Haldeman, 

Mr.  Charles  W.  Hand, 

Mr.  Wm.  W.  Hall. 

Rev.  Newell   D.   Hillis,   D.D., 

Rev.   Charles  Herr,  D.D., 

Mr.   Chas.  A.  Hull, 

Rev.   R.   B.   Hull,   D.D., 

Rev.    Abbott    E.    Kittredge,    D.D., 

Rev.   J.   P.   Lichtenberger, 

Rev.   Donald   Sage  Mackay, 

Rev.    Samuel   McBride,    D.D., 

Rev.    Robert    McDonald,    D.D., 

Rev.  J.  Duncan  McMillan,  D.D., 

Rev.  J.   H.   McMullen,  D.D., 

Rev.  Allan  MacRossie, 

Rev.   David  H.   Martin,   D.D., 

Rev.  C.  A.  Miller,  D.D., 

Rev.    J.    C.    K.    Milligan,    D.D., 

Rev.    A.    Lincoln   Moore,    D.D., 

Rev.   H.    Noehren, 

Rev.  Robert  L.  Paddock, 

Rev.   Wm.    R.    Richards,    D.D., 

Mr.  L.  H.  Rogers, 

Mr.   I.   S.   Runyon, 

Rev.    H.   M.    Sanders,    D.D., 

Mr.   Chas.   R.   Saul, 

Rev.    Charles    R.    Seymour,    D.D., 

Rev.    Wilton   Merle    Smith,    D.D., 

Rev.   J.   Ross   Stevenson,    D.D., 

Rev.    Charles    A.    Stoddard,    D.D., 

Rev.    S.   Timothy   Tice,   D.D., 

Rev.  Alexander  Turnbull, 

Mr.  Martin  H.  Wilckens, 

Mr.    James   Tereance. 


RECEPTION  COMMITTEE. 

Rev.     Kerr     Boyce     Tupper,     D.D. 

Lli.D.,    Chairman. 
Rev.   J.   Douglas  Adam,  D.D., 
Rev.   William   P.   Anderson,   D.D., 
Mr.  John  N.  Beach, 
Mr.   Wm.   H.   Beach, 
Mr.    Gerard   Beekman, 
Mr.  William  Brower, 
Rev.    Chas.    H.    Buck,   D.D., 
Rev.    David   J.    Burrell,    D.D., 
Rev.  John  F.   Carson,  D.D., 
Rev.    C.    D.    Case,    Ph.D., 
Rev.  L.  T.  Chamberlain,  D.D., 
Mr.    R.    J.    Chard, 
Rev.  E.  E.  Chivers,  D.D., 
Rev.  Li.  Mason  Clarke,  D.D., 


Rev.   James  W.    Cooper,    D.D., 

Rev.  C.  C.  Creegan,  D.D., 

Mr.    Samuel   J.    Dike, 

Rev.   D.    Stuart   Dodge,   D.D., 

Mr.  Cleveland  A.  Dunn, 

Rev.    Howard   Duffield,    D.D., 

Rev.   Geo.   P.   Eckman,   D.D., 

Mr.   H.   Edwards  Rowland, 

Rev.    A.    H.    Evans,   D.D.. 

Mr.  Frank  Harvey  Field, 

Mr.  Henry  W.  Hubbard, 

Rev.    Charles    E.    Jefferson,    D.D., 

Rev.    J.    Wesley    Johnston,    D.D., 

Rev.  William  V.  Kelley,  D.D., 

Rev.  A.   B.  Kinsolving,  D.D., 

Rev.    Leighton    Parks,    D.D., 

Col.   Alexander  P.    Ketchum, 

Rev.    Frederick   Lynch, 

Rev.  Henry  M.  MacCracken,  D.D. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Remensnyder,  D.D., 

Rev.   A.   B.   Moldehnke,   D.D., 

Rev.  C.  L.  Rhoades, 

Mr.  Chas.  A.  Runk, 

Rev.  James  D.  Steele,  D.D., 

Rev.  Cornelius  B.   Smith,  D.D., 

Mr.    George   E.    Sterry, 

Rev.  Ernest  M.  Stires,  D.D., 

Rev.  Josiah  Strong,  D.D., 

Rev.    N.    McGee   Waters,    D.D., 

Rev.    E.    N.    White,    D.D., 

Mr.   Mornay   Williams. 


COMMITTEE  ON  MEETINGS. 

Rev.  Melatiah  B.  Dwlght,  Chairman. 

Rev.  George  Alexander,  D.D., 

Mr.  John  Willis  Baer, 

Rev.   S.  O.   Benton,   D.D., 

Rev.   Frederick  Campbell,   Sc.D., 

Mr.    Edward   S.   Clinch. 

Rev.    B.    E.    Dickhaut, 

Mr.   E.   F.   Eilert. 

Rev.   Chas.  L.  Goodell,  D.D., 

Rev.  M.  E.   Harlan, 

Rev.   John   Humpstone,   D.D., 

Mr.   Henry  W.  Jessup, 

Rev.   Albert   E.   Keigwin, 

Rev.  Wm.  H.   Kephart. 

Mr.    W.    E.    Lougee. 

Mr.    Wm.    S.    Lyon, 

Rev.  R.   S.  Mac  Arthur,  D.D.. 

Rev.   George  P.  Mains.  D.D., 

Rev.   H.   L.   Morehouse,  D.D., 

Rev.  W.  C.  P.  Rhoades,  D.D., 

Rev.    Charles    H.    Richards,    D.D., 

Rev.   Henry  A.    Stimson,   D.D., 

Rev.  Geo.  E.   Strobridge,  D.D., 

Mr.   A.    P.    Sloan, 

Mr.   Robert   E.    Speer. 


COMMITTEES  Ot  AREA  NQEME NTH 


673 


PUBLICATION  COMMITTEE. 

Mr.  Wm.  T.  Demarest,  Chairman. 

Mr.    H.    B.    Barnes, 

Mr.    F.   A.    Booth, 

Henry    K.    Carroll,    LL.D., 

Prof.    John    B.    Clark,    LL.D., 

Rev.   John  Dixon,   D.D., 

Rev.    Henry   Otis   Dwight,    LL.D., 

Rev.   B.   P.   Farnham,   D.D.. 

Mr.   James  C.   Foley, 

Mr.    Judson   T.    Francis, 

Rev.   I.   W.   Gowen,   D.D., 

Rev.    Edward  P.    Ingersoll,   D.D., 

Mr.   R.  V.   Lewis, 

Rev.  E.   F.   Loofboro, 

Rev.    C.    B.    McAfee,    D.D.. 

Mr.    Willis   McDonald. 

Rev.  J.   T.   MacFarland,   D.D., 

Rev.    Robert   Mackenzie,    D.D., 

Rev.  F.  B.   Makepeace, 

Rev.  J.  Preston  Searle,  D.D., 

Rev.   George  L.    Shearer,   D.D., 

Rev.    S.    G.   Trexler. 


MUSIC  COMMITTEE. 


PULPIT   SUPPLY   COMMITTEE. 

Rev.      Wallace      MacMullen,      D.D. 

Chairman. 
Rev.   John  E.  Adams,   D.D., 
Rev.   A.  W.   Byrt, 
Rev.   James  Demarest,   D.D., 
Rev.   H.   P.   Dewey,   D.D., 
Rev.   D.   G.   Downey,   D.D., 
Rev.   Howard  B.   Grose, 
Rev.   F.   M.  Jacobs,   D.D., 
Rev.   F.   H.   Knubel, 
Rev.   I.   P.   Lichtenberger, 
Rev.    F.   B.  Makepeace, 
Rev.    H.    B.    Parks, 
Rev.  Wilson  D.  Sexton,  D.D., 
Rev.   Charles  W.   Shelton, 
Rev.    Livingston    Taylor, 
Rev.  P.  M.  Watters,  D.D., 
Rev.    Leighton   Williams,   D.D., 
Rev.  Wilbert  W.  White,  Ph.D., 
Rev.    Chas.    S.   Wing,   D.D., 
Rev.  D.   G.  Wylie,  D.D., 
Rev.   Chas.  J.  Young.  D.D. 


COMMITTEE     OX    RECEPTION 
AT  WALDORF-ASTORIA. 

Dr.   S.   F.   Hallock,  Chairman. 
Rev.  John  B.  Calvert,  D.D., 
Mr.   W.   W.    Freeman, 
Mr.   Henry  Taylor  Gray, 
Rev.   Andrew   Gillies,   D.D., 
Rev.  James  P.  Lichtenberger, 
Wm.   Ives  Washburn,   Esq. 


J.  Cleveland  Cady,  LL.D.,  Chairman. 
Rev.   Morris  Liebert,   D.D., 
Rev.  George  S.  Webster,  D.D., 
Rev.  John   H.   Edwards,   D.D. 
Organist— S.  Archer  Gibson,  Musical 
Director. 


PRESS   COMMITTEE. 

The  Rev.  John  Bancroft  Devins, 
D.D.,  Editor  of  "The  New  York 
Observer,"  Chairman. 


NEW  YORK  CITY. 

Rev.  Ernest  Hamlin  Abbott, 

"The  Outlook." 
Mrs.  M.  G.  Anderson, 
"The  Globe  and  Commercial  Adver- 
tiser." 
Mr.  Eugene  M.  Camp, 

"Church    News    Association." 
Thomas  O.   Conant,   LL.D., 

"The  Examiner." 
The  Rev.  Sydney  Herbert  Cox, 

"The    CongregationaJist." 
Mr.   J.   Wallace  Darrow, 

"American   Press  Association." 
The  Rev.  John  B.   Drury,  D.D., 

"The  Intelligencer." 
Mr.    Henry   R.    Elliot, 

"The    Church    Economist." 
The  Rev.   J.   N.   Hallock,   D.D., 

"The  Christian  Work  and 
Evangelist." 
J.  R.  Joy,  Ph.D., 

"The    Christian    Advocate." 
Rev.  A.   H.   Lewis,  D.D., 

"Sabbath   Recorder." 
Mr.  L.  A.  Maynard, 

"Leslie's  Weekly." 
Mr.  Silas  McBee, 

"The    Churchman." 
Mr.  T.   E.  Niles, 

"The    Mail    and    Express." 
Mr.  G.  H.  Sandison. 

"The    Christian    Herald. '• 
Edwin   E.    Slosson,   Ph.D., 

"The  Independent." 
Mr.    E.   J.    Wheeler, 

"Current  Literature." 
Mr.  William  S.    Woods, 

"Literary  Digest." 


«74 


CHURCH    FEDERATION 


NEW  ENGLAND. 


The  Rev.  H.  A.  Bridgman. 

"The  Congregationalist," 
Boston,  Mass. 
The  Rev.  Edward  F.  Merriam,  D.D., 
"The  Watchman/'  Boston,  Mass. 
Mr.  George  F.  Mosher, 

"The    Morning    Star," 
Boston,  Mass. 
The  Rev.  Charles  Parkhurst,  D.D., 

"Zion's  Herald."  Boston,  Mass. 
Prof.  Amos  R.  Wells,  Ph.D., 
"The  Christian  Endeavor  World," 
Boston,  Mass. 


The  Rev.  James  H.  Snowden,  D.D., 
"The  Presbyterian  Banner," 
Pittsburg,   Pa. 
The  Rev.  J.  J.  Summerbell,  D.D., 
"The  Herald  of  Gospel  Liberty," 
Dayton,    O. 
Mr.   Chas.  G.  Trumbull, 

"The  Sunday  School  Times," 
Philadelphia,   Pa. 
Tlie  Rev.  M.  H.  Valentine, 

"The  Lutheran   Observer," 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


SOUTH. 


MIDDLE  STATES. 

Mr.  John  Howard  Deming, 

"The  Baptist  Commonwealth," 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  John  Fulton,  D.D., 

"The   Church   Standard." 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  Levi  Gilbert,  D.D., 

"The  Western  Christian  Advocate," 

Cincinnati,   O. 

The  Rev.   Richard  S.   Holmes,   D.D., 

LL.D., 

"The    Westmmster, 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Rev.  M.  L.  Jennings.  D.D., 

"The  Methodist  (Protestant) 

Recorder,"  ,  „ 

Pittsburg,   Pa. 

The  Rev.  I.  L.  Kephart,  D.D., 

"The   Religious   Telescope," 
Dayton,   O. 
The  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Lasher,  D.D.. 
"The  Journal  and  Messenger," 
Cincinnati,   O. 
Miss  Clara  A.  Alexander, 

"The  Presbyterian," 
Philadelphia,   Pa. 
The  Rev.  James  R.  Miller,  D.D., 

"Forward,"  Philadelphia.  Pa. 
The   Rev.   D.   R.    Miller,   D.D., 

"The  United  Presbyterian," 
Pittsburg,  Pa. 
The  Rev.   F.   C.  Monfort.  D.D., 

"The  Herald  and  Presbyter," 
Cincinnati,  O. 
The  Rev.  C.  J.  Musser,  D.D., 

"The  Reformed  Ch.  Messenger," 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


The  Rev.  James  E.  Clark,  D.D., 
"The  Cumberland  Presbyterian," 
Nashville,  Tenn. 
The  Rev.   F.  B.   Converse,   D.D.. 

"The    Christian    Observer," 
Louisville,   Ky. 
The  Rev.   Crawford  Jackson, 

"The  Christian  Union," 
Atlanta,  Ga. 
The   Rev.   Geo.   L.   Leyburn,   D.D., 
"The  Presbyterian  Standard," 
Charlotte.  N.  C. 
The  Rev.  Gteo.  B.  Winton,  D.D., 
"The  Christian  Advocate." 
(M.   E.   Ch.   South). 
Nashville,  Tenn. 


WEST. 


The  Rev.  J.  A.   Adams,  D.D., 

"The   Advance,"    Chicago. 
Mr.  Nolan  R.  Best, 

"The  Interior,"  Chicago. 
Mr.  J.  S.  Dickerson, 

"The   Standard,"    Chicago. 
The  Rev.  S.  J.  Herben,  D.D., 

"The  Epworth  Herald,"  Chicago, 
Paul  Moore,  Ph.D., 

"The  Christian  Evangelist," 

St.    Louis. 

The  Rev.  Claudius  B.  Spencer,  D.D., 

"The  Central  Christian  Advocate," 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 

David  D.  Thompson,  LL.D., 

"The  Northwestern  Christian 

Advocate."  ^,  . 

Chicago. 

The  Rev.  C.  A.  Young, 
"The  Christian  Century,"   Chicago. 


PRESS  COMMENTS 


The  meeting  appeared  to  us  epochal.  It  marked  a  new  and  distinct 
era  of  hope  for  Christianity.  No  dissonant  note  was  struck  in  the 
whole  proceedings.  The  delegates  were  met  in  one  place  and  with  one 
mind,  feeling  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  Evidently 
there  was  for  them  only  one  body,  one  Spirit,  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one 
baptism,  one  God  who  was  the  Father  of  all.  Enjoying  unity  of  heart 
sympathy,  and  purpose,  they  cared  little  for  unanimity  of  theological 
opinion  or  uniformitj'  in  Church  organization.  Their  essential  spiritual 
unity  was  a  true  realization  of  the  Saviour's  prayer  "that  they  may  be 
one,  even  as  we  are  one."  It  was  the  oneness  of  the  universe— unity  in 
variety.  It  was  the  unity  of  the  human  body—the  fullest  specialization 
in  a  vital  organism.  One  single  great  Church— if  it  could  ever  exist 
again— might  become  corrupt  and  tyrannical  and  limit  freedom  of  re- 
ligious thought.  Let  denominations  stand  while  sectarianism  and  big- 
otry die ;  let  the  emphasis  be  larger  upon  the  word  Christian  than  upon 
the  particularism  of  the  denominational  name;  let  the  various  groups 
within  great  denominational  families— like  the  Methodist  and  Baptist- 
merge  into  one;  let  the  great  denominational  divisions  then  federate 
for  evangelistic,  missionary,  educational,  philanthropic,  social  and  civic 
work— just  as  in  much  that  is  undertaken  they  are  now  doing— and  the 
Kingdom  of  God  will  come  in  apace.  The  world  will  understand  that 
the  several  Christian  bodies  are  not  competing  and  quarreling  sects, 
but  "one  in  truth  and  doctrine,  one  in  charity,"  and  united  for  the  sal- 
vation of  the  world  by  bringing  all  men  to  believe  in  Christ,  the  uni- 
versal Saviour.  For  the  end  of  all  unity  is  "that  the  world  may  know 
that  Thou  hast  sent  me." — Western  Christian  Advocate,  Chicago. 

The  acorn  may  be  small,  but  in  it  is  the  prophecy  of  the  oak.  A 
solitary  monK  seeking  for  peace,  on  his  knees  a  stairway  climbing  in 
Rome,  Eternal  City  of  the  C.iesars  and  the  Papacy,  may  seem  insig- 
nificant, but  in  that  moment  lies  the  potency  and  the  prophecy  of  the 
Reformation  and  of  modern  civilization.  The  sources  of  great  move- 
ments are  invariably  small,  often  unnoticeable.  A  little  ship's  com- 
pany anchoring  on  a  bleak  coast,  the  ocean  waste  behind,  danger,  plague, 
death  before,  plus  the  divine  yeast  they  bear,  equals  New  England, 
equals  a  new  world,  a  republic,  America.  A  Nazarene  peasant  nailed  to 
a  malefactor's  cross  in  a  turbulent  province  of  the  Empire,  plus  the 
potency  that  was  in  His  atoning  death,  equals  to-day  the  Christian 
lands,  the  Christian  laws,  the  Christian  ideals,  the  Christian  expecta- 
tions of  the  golden  ages  yet  ahead  for  all  humanity,  a  city  of  God  on 
earth  and  in  heaven.  Such  an  acorn  was  planted  at  Carnegie  Hall, 
New  York,  November  15-31,  1905. 

****** 

There  has  never  been  in  this  country  a  gathering  where  more  men  of 
highest  rank,  lifted  there  by  the  Divine  Providence,  were  on  the  same 
programme.  And,  as  one  delegate  observed,  "There  was  but  one  speech." 
It  was  the  speech  or  anthem  of  the  priestly  prayer  of  Jesus,  "that  they 
all  may  be  one,"  given  in  many  notes,  from  many  points  of  view,  but 
all  the  time  fixing  the  eyes  steadily  on  Jesus  in  that  prayer  and  on  the 
cross The  Central  Christian  Advocate. 

The  diapason  note  of  this  Conference,  from  first  to  last,  was  the 
supremacy  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  divine  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  the  full 
chords  of  brotherly  love  have  swelled  above  all  differences  of  creed  and 
polity,  in  the  one  glad  anthem  of  praise  to  Him  who  hath  loved  us  and 
given  Himself  for  us.  And  mingling  with  this  united  song  has  been  the 
note  of  longing  for  the  salvation  of  sinful  men  and  the  promotion  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth. — Examiner,  New  York. 

675 


676  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

The  centrifugal  forces  that  for  three  hundred  years  have  caused  the 
Church  of  Christ  to  split  into  fragments  and  fly  apart  are  now  being 
overbalanced  by  centripetal  forces  that  are  drawing  them  together 
towards  one  centre.  The  union  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterir.u  Church, 
the  Federation  of  Churches  at  New  York,  the  remarkable  union  move- 
ment In  Canada,  the  union  of  denominational  forces  and  of  denomina- 
tions on  foreign  fields — these  are  recent  manifestations  of  a  unifying 

tendency  in  Christianity The  same  God  and  Christ  and 

Bible,  substantially  the  same  worship  and  character  and  service,  these 
are  drawing  its  .divided  members  together  and  knitting  them  into  one 
body.  How  far  this  process  will  go,  what  forms  it  will  assume,  what 
particular  denominations  it  will  unite,  we  cannot  foresee;  but  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  the  tendency  in  the  Church  to-day  and  that 
already  it  is  accomplishing  great  results.  It  is  a  tendency  that  we  should 
hail  with  joy,  and  help  with  hand  and  heart,  and  that  we  should  pray 
and  hope  will  result  in  one  fold  as  there  is  one  Shepherd. — The  Pres- 
byterian Banner,  Pittsburg. 

Our  twentieth  century  may  witness  the  reunion  of  Christendom.  It 
is  a  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished. 

To  that  end  the  most  important  and  impressive  religious  gathering 
ever  held  among  non-Catholics  was  recently  in  session  in  New  York. 
Now,  if  this  movement  remains  true  to  its  practical  purpose,  it  ought 
to  succeed  in  showing  that  there  is  a  sound  basis  on  which  the  different 
non-Catholic  denominations  of  the  country  can  stand.  We  believe  that 
if  ever  Church  unity  is  to  be  visibly  attained,  even  in  a  moderate  de- 
gree, it  will  be  brought  about  under  some  such  form  as  this  great  Con- 
ference in  New  York  has  assumed.  One  thing  is  quite  certain:  proofs 
abound  that  we  have  entered  upon  an  era  of  better  feeling  and  a  more 
tolerant  and  Christian  spirit  among  Christians.  Everywhere  it  is 
recognized  that  the  chief  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  and 
the  conversion  of  the  world  is  the  existence  of  divisions  among  Chris- 
tians. The  desire  for  a  reunion  of  Christendom  is  a  striking  char- 
acteristic of  our  times.  Separated  bodies  of  Christians  are  being  drawn 
closer  together  every  day.  They  cease  to  think  ill  of  each  other  and 
are  uniting,  wherever  practicable,  in  charitable  and  other  good  works. 
This  is  the  first  step  toward  that  final  and  perfect  union  for  which 
Christ  prayed.  And  should  no  further  advance  be  made  in  our  time, 
every  one  is  thankful  for  this  better  and  more  Christian  feeling.  Let 
us  be  done,  then,  with  the  Gospel  of  hate,  the  Impugning  of  motives, 
the  cruel  annoyance  and  the  relentless  persecution  of  former  days — 
The  Rev.  M.  M.  Sheedy,  in  the  Catholic  Mirror,  Baltimore. 

It  was  a  great  meeting.  It  was  gi-eat  in  its  representation: 
thirty  denominations,  with  over  eighteen  million  communicants,  and 
three  times  as  many  more  adherents;  great  in  the  purpose  It  had  in 
view,  to  federate  the  Christian  bodies  in  this  country,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible,' into  a  single  force  for  all  good  things ;  great  in  the  extraordinary 
number  of  able  and  eloquent  addresses  in  its  sessions  covering  a  week 
of  meetings;  great  in  the  harmony  of  its  members,  representing  so 
many  views  of  faith  and  worship ;  great  in  the  influence  which  the  now 
federated  force  of  its  constituent  Churches  will  have  for  the  well  being 
of  our  country. 

Now  what  has  this  extraordinary  coming  together  of  these  denomi- 
nations accomplished?  First,  this  meeting  together  is  itself  a  great  ac- 
complishment. Nothing  like  it  has  ever  occurred  in  the  history  of  our 
divided  Church.  For  these  five  hundred  men  were  not  merely  so  many 
well-meaning  Christian  gentlemen  :  they  were  all  officially  chosen  and 
delegated  by  the  chief  authority  of  their  several  denominations  to  form 
this  Federation,  with  the  distinct  and  expressed  purpose  of  announcing 


PRESS  COMMENTS  677 

the  unity  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  of  which  their  denominations  are 
but  a  part.  They  have  shown  that  we  are  not  a  divided  Church,  but 
that  its  members  are  one  in  their  Lord. 

But  let  it  be  fully  understood  that  this  Plan  of  Federation  has  not 
yet  been  fully  completed.  All  has  been  done,  and  well  done  that  could 
yet  be  done.  The  Plan  has  been  drawn  up  and  heartily,  indeed  unani- 
mously, approved.  It  must  now  go  down  to  the  several  Clu-istian  bodies 
that  sent  their  delegates,  for  approval  and  adoption.  If  approved  by 
two-thirds  of  these  denominations— and  we  do  not  anticipate  that  a 
single  one  will  reject  it— the  first  sessions  of  "The  Federal  Council  of 
the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America"  will  be  held  in  December  of  1908, 
the  earliest  date  when  it  will  be  possible  to  meet  after  all  the  denom- 
inations will  have  had  opportunities  to  give  their  adhesion  to  such  a 
Federation.  The  meeting  this  past  week  was  preparatory;  thus  the 
Federation  will  be  complete  and  in  full  operation,  and  the  work  it  has 
to  do  will  be  fairly  entered  uiJon.  Fortunate  will  those  be  who  shall 
live  under  the  new  era  of  Church  union,  if,  as  we  fully  believe,  the 
promise  of  united  service  shall  be  fulfilled  in  preventing  hurtful  rival- 
ries and  in  strengthening  each  other's  hands  in  the  support  of  public 
righteousness  and  individual  devotion  to  whatever  honors  God  in  ben- 
efiting man. — The  hidepcndent,  New  York. 


The  Conference  itself  was  a  marvelous  expression  of  the  growth  of 
unity.  Forty  years  ago  such  a  gathering,  and  for  such  a  purpose,  would 
not  have  been  possible.  It  marks  the  decline  of  denomiuationalism  and 
the  growing  imperialism  of  Christ.  Those  among  you  whose  heads  are 
gray  can  remember  a  time  when  the  relation  between  the  denomina- 
tions was  like  to  that  of  the  ancient  Jews  and  Samaritans.  Sectarian 
animosities  were  rife  in  the  Churches.  The  hopes  cherished  by  a  few 
that  the  barriers  between  them  would  be  broken  down,  and  the  claims 
of  a  common  Christian  brotherhood  be  regarded  as  far  above  all  sec- 
tarianism, seemed  far  away  and  impossible  of  realization :  but  what 
was  far  away  is  near  at  hand,  and  the  impossible  has  in  some  measure 
been  realized.  In  that  great  gathering  there  was  at  least  a  foretaste 
of  better  times.  Allegiance  to  Jesus  Christ  was  the  supreme  bond  that 
bound  them  together.  The  representatives  of  eighteen  million  Chris- 
tians, and  of  thirty  different  branches  of  the  Church  were  as  one  in 
Him. — The  Rev.  8.  J.  Niccolls.  D.D.,  LL.D.,  St.  Louis,  in  jmDlished  ad- 
dress. 


A  great  fact  of  sentiment  has  been  exhibited  by  the  Inter-Church 
Conference  on  Federation ;  it  remains  to  be  seen  what  facts  of  practice 
may  yet  emerge.  But  the  fact  of  sentiment  alone  is  worth  the  while. 
After  such  a  demonstration  even  the  unobservant  man  of  the  world 
ought  to  begin  to  revise  his  blind  idea  that  the  different  denominations 
stand  for  so  many  chronic  feuds  among  Christians.  And  it  does  Chris- 
tians themselves  good  to  have  such  an  opportunity  to  exercise  in  the 
open  their  mutual  kindly  feelings. 

****** 

But  what  about  tangible  outcome  in  deeds,  not  words?  Large- 
hearted  Christian  men  were  just  as  sanguine  of  the  coordinating  power 
of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  in  1873  as  they  are  respecting  the  Federa- 
tion to-day.  But  the  Alliance  faded  away  in  slow  decline  until  now  its 
whole  energy  is  exhausted  in  getting  out  a  program  for  the  Week  of 
Prayer  once  a  year.  Will  the  Federation  in  its  turn  rise  sublimated 
to  the  Nirvana  of  such  exalted  usefulness?  Even  if  it  would  be  worth 
while  as  a  temporary  exhibition,  it  would  be  vastly  more  worth  while 
as  a  permanent  engine. 


67S  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

There  can  be  no  hasty  exaction  of  results.  The  very  fact  that  it 
is  necessary  to  go  back  now  to  the  denominations  and  get  indorsement 
for  the  Plan  of  the  Federation,  before  a  working  body  can  be  created, 
jtostpones  by  at  least  three  years  any  experimental  test  of  its  poten- 
tiality. But  that  will  be  a  short  time  to  wait  if  it  really  suffices  to 
establish  an  efficient  agency  of  common  action.  To  wield  thoroughly 
interlocked  a  tithe  of  the  latent  force  in  the  Churches,  or  to  save  a 
tithe  of  the  force  now  lost  by  interference  and  duplication,  would  be 
an  incalculable  triumph  in  Christian  mechanics.  What  if  this  Federa- 
tion could  bring  the  Churches  to  agree  on  a  feasible  arrangement  by 
which  home  mission  responsibilities  for  various  localities  and  various 
populations  could  be  equitably  distributed  and  laid  on  definite  shoulders 

wouldn't   home   missions   soon   get   a   clinching   grip   on   the   diverse 

problems  that  come  under  that  head?  What  If  Federation  could  bring 
all  Churches  to  feel  profoundly  that  men  are  perishing  for  want  of  free, 
wide  and  constant  preaching  of  the  Gospel  throughout  the  city  and 
countryside— wouldn't  the  adjective  "spasmodic"  soon  cease  to  apply  to 
evangelism?  Here  are  two  of  the  fundamental  tasks  of  Federation, 
and  a  vast  area  besides  of  sociological  duty  lies  around  them,  challeng- 
ing the  Churches  to  wake  and  act.  If  Federation  can  lead  Christians 
solid  to  attack  these  problems,  it  will  be  the  morning  star  of  the  mil- 
lennium.— The  Interior,  Chicago. 

It  was  made  very  plain  in  the  Conference  that  matters  of  moment, 
many  of  them,  are  waiting  for  the  action  of  the  Federated  Churches. 
To  enter  upon  them  no  creedal  uniformity  or  formal  ecclesiastical  union 
is  necessary — merely  cooperation.  Among  these  are  evangelism ;  the 
purification' of  politics,  insistence  on  high  standards  of  honesty  in  busi- 
ness, opposition  to  Mormonism,  to  commercialism  and  to  the  liquor 
power ;  movements  for  Sabbath  observance,  for  Bible  study,  for  mission 
study  and  liberal  giving,  for  divorce  reform;  work  among  immigrants; 
work  for  a  better  home  life,  for  a  nobler  press,  and  for  more  helpful 
relations  between  labor  and  capital.  Indeed,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  name  any  great  movement  for  tae  betterment  of  the  world  that  could 
not  be  aided  powerfully  by  federated  Christianity.  This  impelling 
motive  for  Church  union  was  urged  in  many  ways  throughout  the  Con- 
ference. 

No  one  could  come  away  from  that  great  assemblage  in  New  York 
without  the  largest  hopes.  Men's  faces  there  were  forward,  away  from 
the  weakly  divided  past,  toward  the  strong  and  united  future.  Men's 
\  oices  there  were  learning  to  say,  "We  all  are  one" :  better,  their  hearts 
were  coming  to  know  it;  and  the  goal  of  that  union  was.  and  will  be 
more  and  more,  "that  the  world  may  believe."— T/ie  Christian  Endeavor 
World,  Boston. 

Along  the  lines  of  the  discussion  there  opened  out  abundant  oppor- 
tunities for  practical  cooperation  among  all  the  Christian  Churches  in 
America.  How  far  this  impression  may  extend  to  the  other  subjects 
which  were  to  be  treated  as  to  the  dealing  of  a  united  Church  with  home 
and  foreign  missions,  and  still  more  of  a  united  Church  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  faith.  I  of  course  cannot  speak.  The  danger  of  the  almost  in- 
herent difficulty  lies,  of  course,  just  upon  such  subjects  as  this.  But  I 
am  abundantly  satisfied  that  the  gathering  of  such  men  as  met  there 
in  New  York  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost  must,  in  the  first 
place,  draw  us  nearer  to  each  other  in  points  of  recognition  and  appre- 
ciation, of  mutual  respect  for  convictions  which  we  do  not  share,  with- 
out any  loss  of  self-respect  for  our  own.  And  with  the  enormous  field 
that  lies  before  us,  of  questions  that  need  to  be  dealt  with  by  what  we 
might  call  applied  Christianity,  it  seems  to  me  inevitable  that  the  out- 
come of  all  this  will  be  the  drawing  of  Christian  men  of  various  names 
to   work   together   along   lines  of  common   interest,   with  no  questions 


PRESS  COMMENTS  67» 

raised  of  difference  in  doctrine  or  in  polity,  with  no  diminution  of  the 
importance  of  points  on  which  men  are  compelled  to  differ,  and  with 
the  substitution  for  the  wretched  spirit  of  toleration  of  a  broad  recog- 
nition of  the  earnestness  and  honesty  of  men  who  differ  from  us,  and 
of  the  absolute  evidence  of  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  upon  the 
work  of  those  who  are  working  under  other  names.  I  felt  very  strongly 
what  I  said,  that,  "while  on  the  one  hand  we  have  our  Lord's  word, 
'He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me,'  we  had  on  the  other  hand  his 
word,  'He  that  is  not  against  us  is  for  us,'  and  somewhere  in  the  pois- 
ing of  the  scale  which  God  holds  in  his  just  and  even  hand  there  is 
some  point  at  which  these  words  so  balance  that  neither  one  outweighs 
the  other  into  insignificance  or  unimportance." 

So  that  in  answer  to  your  two  questions  I  should  say  that  my  im- 
pression of  the  Conference  was  that  its  spirit  was  kindly  and  cordial 
and  appreciative;  that  its  work,  so  far  as  it  lay  along  the  suggestion 
of  points  of  common  interest  and  contact  of  a  practical  sort,  opens  a 
large  opportunity  for  much  greater  usefulness ;  suggests  the  possibility 
of  a  diminution  of  a  waste  of  energy  in  certain  directions ;  and  that  I 
believe  it  will  really  accomplish  not  only  a  warmer  but  a  truer  relation 
between  and  among  Christian  people  of  all  names. — Rt.  Rev.  W.  C. 
Doane,  D.D.,  in  the  Church  Standard,  Philadelphia. 

In  point  of  significance,  impressiveness,  moral  value,  and  spiritual 
result,  this  Conference  has  probably  not  had  an  equal  since  the  first 
council  held  in  Jerusalem  soon  after  St.  Paul's  return  to  that  city. 
4>  «  «  i:  4>  rpjj^  theuies  chosen  for  discussion  were  as  broad  and 
generous  as  the  membership  of  the  Conference.  Almost  every  phase  of 
social  life,  political  life,  commercial  life;  the  vital  questions  of  the 
Church  and  the  nation ;  problems  relating  to  immigi-ation,  city  evangel- 
ization, new  methods  of  Church  work ;  foreign  missions,  home  missions ; 
temperance,  divorce,  schools — practically  all  of  the  really  important 
subjects  with  which  the  Church  is  concerned  were  presented  by  men 
eminently  capable  for  such  service.  That  there  should  have  been  prac- 
tical unanimity  on  such  widely  divergent  topics  is  simply  amazing ;  and 
that  a  basis  of  general  agreement  should  have  been  so  easily  reached  is 
a  cause  both  of  wonder  and  of  gratitude.  *****  But  more 
remarkable  than  all  else  was  the  Spiritual  Power  of  the  Conference. 
This  was  evident  at  each  meeting;  and  it  increased  from  day  to  day. 
Nor  did  anything  weaken  that  power,  no  matter  what  theme  was  under 
discussion.  Just  as  the  tide,  drawn  by  mysterious  but  all-powerful 
forces  from  the  sky,  rises  with  a  strength  which  nothing  can  resist, 
covering  rocks,  headlands,  sand-bars,  causing  grounded  vessels  to  float 
and  submerging  the  beach  in  the  depths  of  the  shining  sea,  so  rose  the 
spiritual  energies  of  this  Conference,  and  at  times  the  emotion  was  so 
strong  that  nothing  but  a  mighty  burst  of  song,  or  a  fervent  prayer 
from  some  overcharged  heart,  could  express  the  peculiar  feeling  of  the 
hour.  Nat  irally  some  topics  would  arouse  more  enthusiasm  than  others ; 
and  there  were  some  speakers  so  gifted  that  their  voices  easily  filled 
Carnegie  Hall,  and  whose  earnestness  was  contagious  to  a  I'emarkable 
degree ;  yet  at  no  time  was  there  a  lack  of  both  the  power  and  the  peace 
of  God  upon  the  assembly.  Perhaps  not  since  Pentecost  has  there  been 
a  more  distinct  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  than  during  the  sessions  of 
this  Conference.  And  on  Monday,  especially  at  the  afternoon  meeting, 
when  the  topic,  "A  United  Church  and  Evangelization,"  admitted  of  the 
most  faithful,  earnest  presentation  of  the  needs  of  the  Church  and  the 
mighty  work  it  was  called  to  do,  it  was  indeed  evident  that  God  was 
manifesting  Himself  through  those  who  spoke,  and  also  filling  the  hearts 
of  those  who  heard. — The  Rev.  J.  Wesley  Johnston,  D.  D.,  in  Zion's 
Herald,  Boston. 


680  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

In  attempting  to  effect  its  object,  the  Federation  of  Churches  has 
pursued  no  chimeras.  It  has  accepted  as  a  fact  the  differences  among 
the  bodies  participating.  It  has  recognized  as  no  less  a  fact  their  agree- 
ments. Without  attempting  to  interfere  with  the  former  or  to  har- 
monize them,  it  has  proposed  cooperative  worli  and  effort  on  the  basis 
of  the  latter.  It  would  be  a  scandal  to  the  Evangelical  Protestant 
Christianitj'  of  this  country  were  its  divisions  so  hopeless  and  its  lines 
of  cleavage  so  deeply  run  through  the  essentials  of  Christian  faith  that 
it  could  discover  no  common  standing-ground  where  it  could  mass  its 
forces  against  common  foes. — The  Lutheran  Observer,  Philadelphia. 

The  Inter-Church  Conference  on  the  Federation  of  Churches,  held 
in  New  York  from  the  15th  to  the  21st  of  November,  1905,  was  a  remark- 
able meeting,  both  as  to  its  constitution  and  its  probable  influence  on 
the  Churches  represented.  It  is  an  indication  of  the  trend  in  Church  or- 
ganization and  relations  which  is  felt  in  almost  all  lands.  The  Churches 
are  drawing  nearer  to  each  other. — The  United  Presbyterian,  Pittsburg. 

The  Inter-Church  Conference  marked  the  close  of  what  might  be 
called  the  period  of  internal  strife  in  this  country  among  religious 
people  owning  a  common  Lord  and  worshipping  a  common  Father.  The 
spirit  that  prevailed  in  that  Conference  among  the  representatives  of  va- 
rious religious  bodies  will  largely  prevail  among  the  Churches  every- 
where. That  is  one  of  the  good  results  that  will  surely  flow  from  that 
great  gathering.  *****  This  new  era  of  peace  between  those 
owning  allegiance  to  a  common  Lord  will  be  marked  as  a  period  of  new 
aggressiveness  and  of  more  vigorous  warfare  against  the  evils  which 
threaten  our  Christian  civilization  and  hinder  the  progress  of  the  King- 
dom of  God  on  earth.  The  Church  will  now  become  more  militant  than 
ever,  only  its  warfare  will  now  be  directed,  not  against  the  friends  of 
the  Master,  but  against  His  enemies,  and  especially  against  those  gigan- 
tic evils  which  produce  so  much  sorrow  and  suffering.  It  will  also  be 
marked  as  a  period  of  greater  activity  and  of  more  systematic  and 
united  effort  on  the  part  of  Christians  to  evangelize  the  world  and  to 
fill  the  whole  earth  with  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  will  be  glorious  to  be  living  in  an  age  when  the  forces  of  right- 
eousness are  united  in  a  life-and-death  struggle  with  the  forces  of  evil, 
and  when  Christians,  hearing  only  the  voice  of  Christ,  shall  keep  step 
to  the  music  of  the  Cross,  as  they  march  forward,  a  united  army,  to 
make  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  the  one  universal  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. — The  Christian  Evangelist,  St.  Louis. 

As  to  practical  results  expected,  it  is  believed  that  several  moral 
and  social  questions  for  which  one  or  more  of  the  thirty  denominations 
have  been  seeking  a  solution  will  now  receive  an  added  impetus  by  this 
organized  effort.  When  one  church  speaks  forcibly  people  listen;  when 
a  denomination  is  heard  its  voice  is  heeded  if  not  ol>eyed ;  when  thirty 
denominations  speak,  with  eighteen  million  communicants  behind  them, 
at  least  a  third  of  whom  are  voters,  politicians  as  well  as  statesmen 
may  find  it  to  their  advantage  to  obey  as  well  as  to  hear. 

Cooperation  among  Churches  in  mission  work  at  home  and  abroad 
will  follow  naturally.  The  home  missionaries  and  the  foreign  are  at 
present  far  ahead  of  the  bodies  which  support  them  ;  it  will  be  easier 
now  for  them  to  secure  the  approval  of  the  home  Churches  and  organ 
izations  to  the  plans  which  they  propose. 

Organic  unity  between  certain  of  the  denominations  of  a  single 
family,  such  as  Presbyterians,  Methodists  or  Bai)tists.  is  likely  to  re- 
sult ;  in  fact,  the  Baptists  and  the  Free  Baptists  are  already  considering 
a  plan  of  organized  union,  a  meeting  of  committees  having  lieen  held  in 
this  city  since  the  Conference  adjourned.     It  is  probable  that  similar 


PRESS  COMMENTS  081 

conferences  between  other  denominations  will  be  held  in  the  near 
future,  and  it  is  wholly  within  reason  to  predict  that  within  a  decade 
the  number  of  separate  denominations  will  fall  below  the  present 
mark.  Already  Federation  and  union  movements  are  in  motion,  which 
have  started  since  this  Conference  was  planned,  and  it  is  safe  to  predict 
that  they  will  make  more  rapid  progress  as  a  result  of  the  harmony 
and  unanimity  prevailing  in  the  meeting  just  closed. — The  New  York 
Observer. 

The  most  striking  thing  about  the  whole  Conference  was  the  sweet 
readiness  of  all  its  members  to  agree  to  ignore,  though  without  forget- 
ting, the  points  of  difference  between  them  and  to  strike  hands  on  the 
great  issues  concerning  which  all  are  agreed.  And  after  all,  one  speaker 
got  very  near  the  truth  when  he  said:  "I  think  that  when  we  examine 
the  things  which  stand  at  the  parting  of  the  ways  between  any  two 
denominations  we  shall  fail  to  find  there  any  really  vital  matter."  The 
unity  of  the  Conference  was  in  its  loyalty  to  Christ  and  to  the  work 
of  saving  the  world  for  Him,  It  was  the  missionary  enthusiasm  most 
of  all  which  made  its  members  one  iu  Him — Christian  Advocate,  Nash- 
ville. 

The  Inter-Church  Conference  has  justified  its  existence.  It  has 
done  good,  and  that  in  many  directions.  The  representatives  of  many 
Christian  bodies  came  together  desiring  Federation.  They  left  the 
Conference  with  that  desire  greatly  increased  and  intensified.  Many 
of  them  felt  the  unity  of  Christendom  a  necessity.  The  delegates  as- 
sembled as  Protestants  and  Evangelicals,  but  before  the  Conference 
was  concluded  they  realized  that  this  was  of  necessity  a  sectarian  basis, 
and  therefore  in  a  more  catholic  spirit  they  adopted  a  plan  of  Federa- 
tion which  made  no  mention  of  Protestant,  Evangelical  or  Roman.  And 
finally,  the  spirit  of  the  Conference,  as  it  developed,  was  distinctly  in 
the  direction  of  Christian  fellowship.  The  disposition  was  positive, 
and  the  Conference  adjourned  with  no  heritage  of  bitterness,  as  of  old, 
when  sections  of  Christians  have  met  to  discuss  cooperation.  The 
fruits  of  this  Conference,  therefore,  are  deeper  convictions  on  the  ques- 
tion of  unity,  a  more  comprehensive  conception  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
and  a  deeper  consciousness  of  the  family  tie  that  binds,  and  should 
hind,  all  who  claim  to  be  members  of  His  One  Body.— T7(e  Churchman. 
New   York. 

This  movement  has  been  intensified  by  the  sentiment  of  the  times. 
Organizations  to  avoid  waste  and  increase  efliciency  obtain  in  every 
direction,  and  surely  these  objects  are  as  valuable  in  Christian  work 
as  elsewhere.  So  it  has  happened  that  strong  expressions  have  come 
from  all  directions  calling  for  the  grasp  of  fellowship.  The  Christian 
people  of  the  world  have  raised  their  voices  for  it;  business  men  have 
demanded  it;  ministers  and  missionaries  have  pleaded  for  it,  until 
to-day  we  stand  on  the  threshold  of  what  it  is  greatly  to  be  hoped  will 
be  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  brotherly  cooperation,  and  of  a  united 
•effort  for  righteousness,  in  which  the  Church  of  God  will  put  forth  its 
mighty  strength.— T/ie  Ram's  Horn,  Chicago. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that,  while  the  formation  of  a  Federation 
for  practical  religious  purposes  requires  generality,  it  demands,  with 
equal  urgency,  definiteness,  particularity,  specification.  This  combina- 
tion has  been  realized,  we  believe,  in  the  Federation  provided  for  by  the 
recent  Inter-Church  Conference.  It  is  general,  but  it  is  not  void  of  gen- 
erality. It  is  suflicieutly  comprehensive,  in  that  it  has  not  parted  with 
its  power  to  at  least  include  a  considerable  majority  of  the  Christian 
people  of  the  United  States.    Edmund  Burke  said  of  himself  that  he  had 


682  CHURCH    FEDERATION 

taken  his  ideas  of  liberty  not  too  high  that  they  might  last  him  through 
life.  The  Conference  acted  wisely  and  prudently  in  taking  its  ideas  of 
comprehensiveness  "not  too  high"  that  they  might  last  it  through  the 
long  life  to  which  it  is  looking  forward.  There  was  a  sane  moderation 
in  its  ideas  and  expectations.  It  did  not  aim  to  include  the  human  race ; 
it  was  not  its  intention  even  to  include  all  serious-minded  persons,  or 
all  persons  possessing  "a  religious  ideal  of  some  sort."  Its  aim  was 
simply  to  unite  together  in  one  Federation  a  large  number  of  Christian 
Churches  which,  it  was  believed,  could  and  would  work  together  har- 
moniously for  one  definite  purpose  common  to  them  all.  It  is  in  this 
purpose  that  its  particular,  as  distinguished  from  its  general,  character 
is  revealed.  It  is  as  definite  and  particular  as  can  be.  It  is  so  par- 
ticular as  to  be  personal.  For  the  basis  on  which  the  proposed  Fed- 
eration rests  is  nothing  else  than  the  common  belief  of  all  the  Churches 
composing  it  in  "Jesus  Christ  as  their  divine  Lord  and  Saviour" ;  and 
its  object  is  to  serve  Him,  to  apply  His  law  in  every  relation  of  human 
life,  to  propagate  His  Gospel  as  the  sole  and  sufficient  means  for  the 
redemption  of  mankind.  This  belief  in,  this  personal  attachment  and 
devotion  to,  a  personal,  divine-human  Lord  and  Saviour,  the  incarnate 
Son  of  God.  is,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Conference,  the  one  common 
meeting-ground  for  all  Christian  denominations,  and  furnishes  the  one 
sufficient  basis  on  which  they  may  be  federated  together.  To  it,  the 
Person  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  one  capital,  radical,  pivotal,  central  fact ; 
and  belief  in  Him,  and  attachment  and  devotion  to  Him  as  our  divine 
Lord  and  Master,  the  one  all-related,  all-determining  and  all-compre- 
hending principle.  The  primacy  of  personality  above  all  things  else,  and 
in  personality,  the  primacy  of  the  will,  as  related  to  the  intellect— these 
are  great  and  everlasting  principles;  and  they  are  principles  which 
found  distinct,  earnest  and  reiterated  utterance  in  the  course  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Conference.  It  is  largely  on  the  solid  ground  of  these 
principles  that  its  action  is  based.— Reformed  Church  Messenger. 

1  regard  the  result  achieved  by  the  Inter-Church  Conference  on 
Federation  to  be  the  greatest  and  most  significant  accomplished  by  any 
religious  gathering  ever  held  in  North  America.  The  potentialities  of 
the  federative  action  taken  in  Carnegie  Hall  are  limitless.  If  the  plan 
is  worked  with  the  best  human  wisdom  and  with  an  unselfish  spirit, 
if  Jesus  Christ,  the  great  Magnet  and  Unifier,  is  given  His  true  pre- 
eminence, and  if  the  council  of  representatives  of  the  various  bodies 
of  Christians  approach  all  their  tasks  with  a  sense  of  their  need  of 
superhuman  assistance,  the  Kingdom  can  and  will  be  tremendously  ad- 
vanced. There  will  be  vast  economies  as  a  result  of  preventing  and 
overlapping  and  undercutting  and  consequent  misunderstandings,  fric- 
tion and  ill-feeling.  Far  heavier  blows  will  be  dealt  against  various 
forms  of  iniquity  and  injustice.  A  much  more  rapid,  complete  and 
effective  occupation  of  field,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  is  made  practi- 
cable. A  great  step  has  been  taken  in  the  direction  of  presenting  to  an 
unbelieving  world  the  mightiest  and  most  convincing  apologetic.  The 
transactions  of  November  15-21,  1905,  will  loom  up  larger  and  larger 
with  each  succeeding  year.— John  R.  Mott,  in  The  Christian  City,  New 
York. 

I  am  glad  that  the  recent  Conference  did  not  fail  to  declare  its 
lovalty  to  our  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour.  We  honor  many  who  do  not 
agree  with  us.  We  honor  their  work.  But  the  fields  we  occupy,  and  the 
w'ork  we  do.  are.  in  part,  different  from  theirs. 

That  this,  our  work,  will  be  more  wisely,  more  lovingly,  more  en- 
thusiasticallv,  more  successfully,  done  in  the  future  by  reason  of  the 
Conference  just  closed,  a  Conference  wonderful  in  ability,  in  variety 
of  utterance,  in  nobleness  of  spirit,  I  confidently  believe.  The  American 
Churches  will   feel   the   inspiration  through   all    its  wide  extent.— The 


PRESS  COMMENTS  683 

Rev.  Bishop  E.  G.  Andrews,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  in  The  Christian  City,  New 
Yorlj. 

The  Conference  was  si^ificant  in  its  intellectual  force.  For  four- 
teen successive  sessions  the  discussion  of  the  high  themes  which  the 
wide  range  of  the  programme  afforded  was  heard  by  delegates  and 
audience,  not  only  without  restlessness,  but  with  an  intense  avidity. 
The  addresses  were  worthy  of  such  a  hearing.  This  was  evident  to 
any  one  who  knows  that  upon  this  platform  on  these  six  days  stood 
men,  many  of  whom,  by  pen  and  voice,  in  their  several  denominations, 
are  moulding  the  thoughts  and  swaying  the  life  of  the  people,  and  that, 
with  scarcely  an  exception,  these  speakers  were  at  their  best.  It  was 
a  common  comment  concerning  some  of  the  most  famous  men  in  Amer- 
ican Christianity  that  their  addresses  here  had  never  by  them  been 
equalled. 

In  this  play  of  mind  was  constantly  the  heart  warmth.  Fervor 
gave  welcome  glow  to  every  utterance.  It  was  a  time,  not  only  for 
light,  but  for  fire. 

That  element  in  speech  which  is  more  than  enthusiasm,  an  element 
for  which  there  is  no  better  descriptive  term  than  spiritual  power,  was 
an  unmistakable  characteristic,  and  throughout  the  six  days  the  atmos- 
phere was  rare  and  exhilarating  as  is  that  of  high  places.  The  prac- 
tical expression  of  these  forces  of  intellect  and  soul  was  in  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  essential  unity  of  the  Churches  in  their  loyal  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Divine  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  in  the  confidence  with  which, 
that  unity  once  accepted  as  real,  the  problems  of  the  future  might  be 
faced. — The  Christian  City,  New  York. 

If  the  Conference  should  accomplish  nothing  else,  it  has  accom- 
plished one  thing  already  for  which  it  will  be  memorable.  It  has  proved 
to  the  whole  world  that  practically  the  entire  Christian  world  is  unani- 
mous in  a  firm  belief  in  the  divinity  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The 
basis  of  Federation  proposed  by  the  Conference  excludes  from  the  Fed- 
eration none  but  those  who  deny  the  divinity  of  Jesus.  That  conviction 
was  voiced  by  nearly  every  speaker,  and  usually  was  greeted  by  enthusi- 
astic applause  on  the  part  of  the  audience.  In  view  of  the  much-talked- 
of  doctrinal  dissensions  and  critical  tendencies  of  our  day,  it  is  a  posi- 
tive joy  to  the  believer's  heart  to  know  that  the  whole  world  of  believers 
is  firmly  holding  its  faith  in  the  divinity  of  Jesus  and  in  His  salvation. 

Another  result  of  the  Conference  may  be  found  in  the  revelation 
of  the  fact  that  the  Church  is  not  as  sadly  rent  and  at  war  with  itself 
as  some  have  claimed.  The  principles  of  faith  and  practice  upon  which 
believers  agree  are  more  numerous  and  infinitely  more  important  than 
those  about  which  they  disagree.  A  storm  of  applause  greeted  the 
speaker  who  asserted  that  the  Conference  was  called  not  that  we  might 
be  made  one,  but  because  we  were  one  already.  The  entire  Church  has 
c  le  God  and  Saviour,  one  Spirit,  one  Bible,  one  hope,  one  faith,  if  not 
one  creed,  one  service  and  one  ideal  of  life.  Differences  have  been 
needlessly  accented — but  the  essential  union  exists,  nevertheless. — The 
Moravian. 

As  a  demonstration  of  existing  unity,  as  promoting  mutual  acquaint- 
ance, as  the  starting  point  of  a  movement  which  if  wisely  and  vigor- 
ously carried  out  may  increase  the  vitality  and  power  of  Protestant 
forces  in  this  country,  this  Conference  on  Federation  will  stand  as  one 
of  the  great  meetings  of  the  first  decade  of  the  twentieth  century. — 
The  Congregationalist. 


INDEX 


African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,    33,   55 :    delegates,    658. 

African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion 
Church,   34,   55;   delegates,   658. 

Albert,  Rev.  Charles  S.,  51. 

Allbright,  Rev.  William  H.,  90. 

Alliance,  Evangelical,  see  Evangel- 
ical AUianc-e. 

Alliance  of  Reformed  Churches, 
resolution  from,  52. 

Alternate  delegates,  665. 

American  Cities,  the  evangelization 
of,  501. 

Anderson,  Rev.  Asher,  xiv,  50,  51, 
63. 

Andrew  and  Philip,  Brotherhood 
of,  431. 

Andrews,  Rev.  Bishop  Edward  G., 
xiv,  14,  54,  57. 

Anthony,  Rev.  Alfred  Williams, 
XV,  16,  60,  87 ;  practical  work- 
ings of  Church  Federation  in  the 
State  of  Maine,  313. 

Apologetic,  the  world  needs  a  new, 
138. 

Australia,  union  of  churches  in, 
151. 


Babcock,  Rev.  Maltbie,  626. 

Baker,  Stephen,  iii,  47 ;  report  of 
Finance  Committee,  642,  671. 

Baltzer,  Rev.  John,  xv,  22,  54,  92; 
what  practical  results  may  be 
expected  from  this  Conference, 
489. 

Baptist  Churches,  33,  54,  87 ;  dele- 
gates, 647. 

Baptist,  Free,  33,  54;  delegates, 
648. 

Baptist,  Seventh  Day,  34,  54;  del- 
egates, 649. 

Baptist  Young  People's  Union,  80, 
431. 

Barnes,  Rev.  H.  W.,  17,  61. 

Barnes,  Rev.  L.  C,  xiv,  22,  54,  97, 
107. 

Barton,  Professor  George  A.,  14, 
57. 

Barton,  Rev.  James  L.,  xv,  17,  60; 
Church  Federation  in  Japan,  355. 

Bauslin,  Rev.  David  H.,  xiv,  15, 
59 ;  address,  297. 

Beaver,  Hon.  James  A.,  xv,  21,  81 ; 
the  possibilities  of  United  Chris- 
tian youth,  461. 

Bell,  Rev.  E.  K.,  17,  61. 

Bell,  Rev.  Hill  M.,  54. 

Bible  Society,  American,  214,  334, 
336. 


Black,  Rev.  William  H.,  xiv,  11, 
52 ;  what  the  churches  can  do  by 
cooperating,  165. 

Boardman,  Dr.  George  Dana,  66, 
631. 

Bowman,  Rev.  Bishop  Thomas,  54. 

Bradford,  Rev.  Amory  H.,  xv,  22, 

55,  92 ;  what  practical  results 
may  be  expected  from  this  Con- 
ference, 494. 

Brett,  Rev.  Cornelius,  15. 
Brewer,    Hon.    David   J.,   xv,   24; 

law  and  justice,  547. 
Bristol,  Rev.  Frank  M.,  22,  94. 
Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew,  432. 
Bruce,   Hon.   M.  Linn,  xv,  26,  27, 

SO,  120,  121 ;  significance  of  this 

Conference,  608,  623. 
Buckley,  Rev.  James  M.,  xiv,  12, 

56,  98;  ecclesiastical  fraternity, 
111 ;  religious  education  by  the 
press,  213. 

Burgess,  Rt.  Rev.  Frederick,  10,  41, 


Cady,  J.  Cleveland,  iii,  xiv,  31,  39, 

43,  47 ;  addi-ess  of  welcome,  125, 

627. 
Cadman,   Rev.   S.   Parkes,   xv,   25, 

110 ;      ecclesiastical      fraternity, 

567. 
Calvert,  Rev.  John  B.,  iii,  xiv,  11, 

43,  45,  51,  54,  102. 
Canada,  union  of  churches  in,  151. 
Capen,  Hon.  Samuel  B.,  xv,  26,  54, 

117 ;  significance  of  this  Confer- 
ence, 605. 
Carson,  Rev.  John  F.,  xiv,  11,  52; 

the      open      door      before     the 

Churches,  167. 
Catechetical  instruction,  184. 
Chapman,  Rev,  J.  Wilbur,  xv,  23, 

102,     168 ;     interdenominational 

evangelistic  work,  525. 
Chickering  Hall  Conference,  300. 
China,    interdenominational    work 

in,  351. 
China   and  Korea,   interdenomina- 
tional work  in,  350. 
Christ,  our  faith  in,  370. 
Christian  Endeavor  movement,  vi, 

80,  150,  153,  166,  431,  464. 
Christian      progress,      a      united 

Church  and,  565,  606. 
"Christians,"  33,  54 ;  delegates,  649. 
Christianity,  Christ  the  centre  of, 

370. 
Church,  a  federated,  137. 
Church  Federation,  what  it  stands 

for,  613 ;  limitations,  615. 


685 


Church  history,  divisive  period  of, 
148. 

Church,  the  ideal,  597. 

Church  union,  in  United  States, 
151,  152;  abroad,  151. 

Citizenship,  230. 

Citizenship,  centre  of  new  civiliza- 
tion, 502. 

Clark,  Rev.  James  E.,  26,  55,  106. 

Clarli,  Rev.  William  Walton,  xiv, 
15,  59;  federation  illustrated, 
292. 

Clement,  Rev.  G.  C,  55. 

Clinton,  Rev.  George  Wylie,  25, 
114. 

Coe.  Prof.  George  A.,  quotation 
from,  196. 

College,  religious  education  in  the, 
197. 

Comity,  in  mission  work,  268. 

Committees,  reports  of,  635. 

Commercialism,  evil  effects  of  the 
spirit  of,  558. 

Conference,  Inter-Church,  signifi- 
cance of,  603,  620;  marks  dis- 
tinct step  forward  in  religious 
history  of  America,  626. 

Congregational  Churches,  33,  54; 
action  of  National  Council  of, 
156 ;  delegates,  649. 

Conscience,  the  popular,  537. 

Converse,  John  H.,  10,  41,  169. 

Cooperating  Christian  missions  in 
Japan,  the  standing  committee 
of,  362. 

Cooperation,  growth  of  spirit  of, 
135. 

Cooperation,  local  illustrated,  127. 

Cooperative  parish  plan,  127,  304, 
308. 

Correspondence,  committee  of,  49, 
55,  104,  112,  157. 

Council,  Federal,  34. 

Country  ministers,  training  for. 
395. 

Coyle,  Rev.  Robert  F..  xv,  19,  79; 
essential  unity  of  the  Churches, 
397. 

Criminal  law,  failure  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the,  556. 

Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church, 
34,  55 ;  delegates,  662. 


Dahlman,  Rev.  A.  E.,  xv,  22.  94. 
Day.  Rev.  Charles  O.,  24.  103. 
Dealey,    Prof.   James    Quayle,    83. 

89,  95.  96.  97,  101. 
Delegates,  names  and  addresses  of. 

645-667;     alternates.     665.     666; 

honorary,  667. 


Demarest,  Wm.  T.,  iii,  xiv,  47;  re- 
port of  Committee  on  Publica- 
tion, 639,  673. 

Derrick,  Rev.  Bishop  W.  B.,  xv. 
23 ;  the  work  of  evangelization 
among  the  negroes,  520. 

Devins,  Rev.  John  Bancroft,  iii. 
xiv,  47 ;  founder  of  Federation 
of  East  Side  Workers,  155,  300; 
report  of  Press  Committee,  640, 
673. 

Dickey,  Rev.  Charles  A.,  xv,  22, 
92 ;  what  practical  results  ma.v 
be  expected  from  this  Confer- 
ence, 485. 

Dickie,  Samuel.  53. 

Disciples  of  Christ,  the,  33;  dele- 
gates, 651. 

Doane,  Rt.  Rev.  William  C,  xiv, 
13,  57 ;  family  life,  234. 

Dodge,  William  E.,  125,  155,  303. 

Dubs,  Rev.  Bishop  Rudolph,  10,  41, 
55. 

Duffield,  Rev.  Howard.  14,  57. 

Dwight,  Rev.  Meletiah  E.,  iii,  iv. 
xiv,  47;  report  of  Committee  on 
Meetmgs,  635,  672. 

Dykes,  Rev.  J.  Oswald,  52. 


Eaton,  Rev.  Charles  A.,  21. 

Ecclesiastical  fraternity,  576. 

Economy  of  forces,  606. 

Ecumenical  Missionary  Conference. 
626. 

Education,  religious,  in  the  home. 
175 ;  Sunday  School,  181 ;  week- 
day, 188 ;  college,  197 ;  press,  213. 

Elliott.  Rev.  George,  55. 

Elmendorf,  Rev.  Joachim,  xiv,  9 ; 
opening  prayer,  39. 

England,  federation  of  the  Free 
Churches  in,  151. 

Episcopal  Church,  Reformed.  34 : 
delegates,  663. 

Episcopal  Church.  Protestant  34: 
representation  in  the  Conference 
explained,  72-74;  delegates,  663. 

Epworth  League,  431. 

Evangelical  Alliance,  v,  125,  153. 
299,  301. 

Evangelical  Association,  33;  dele- 
gates. 652. 

Evangelical  Synod  of  North  Amer- 
ica, 33 ;  delegates,  652. 

Evangelism,  the  hope  of  the 
Churches.  528. 

Evangelistic  movement,  how  feder- 
ation can  help  the.  530. 

Evangelistic  Work,  interdenomina- 
tional. 525. 


INDEX 


687 


Evangelization,    a    united    church 

and,  499-534. 
Evangelization  of  the  World,  the 

great  unifying  conception,  453. 
Executive  Committee  ;  report.  42  ; 

recommendations  to  Conference, 

48,  671. 

Family  Life,  234. 

Farnham,  Rev.  E.  P.,  13,  56. 

Farrar,  Rev.  James  M.,  xv,  24,  103. 

Faunce,  President  Wm.  H.  P..  xv. 
18,  55,  61 ;  our  faith  in  Christ- 
Christ  the  Centre  of  Christian- 
ity, 370. 

Federated  Church,  power  of  a,  137. 

Federal  Council,  34;  allied  de- 
nominations, 151 ;  an  advance 
movement,  135. 

I'ederation  of  Churches,  national. 
See  National  Federation  of 
Churches. 

Federation.  Plan  of.  33 ;  discussion 
of,  62-100;  adoption  of,  101. 

Federation,  philosophy  of,  137 : 
present  practical  workings  of, 
295;  strength  of  the  church  in- 
creased by,  137,  549 ;  illustrated 
when  we  sing  together,  633 ; 
waste  avoided,  128;  within  the 
Church  of  Christ,  136;  World's 
Student  Christian,  432. 

Federative  ideals,  321,  322. 

Federative  work  in  the  States,  313. 

Federative  work  in  the  smaller 
cities  and  rural  districts,  307. 

Fellowship,  general  movement  of 
the  Churches  toward  closer,  147. 

I'ellowship  of  faith,  a  united 
church  and  the,  367. 

Finances,  report  of  committee  on, 
641,  671. 

Foreign  mission  work,  influence  of. 
150. 

Foreign  missions,  movement  for 
union,  150. 

Foss,  Rev.  Bishop  Cyrus  D..  24,  50. 
69.  70,  90. 

Fowler.  Rev.  Bishop  Charles  H.. 
xiv,  9,  15,  40,  59;  address,  273. 

Fraternity,  ecclesiastical.  567 ; 
strengthened  by  companionship 
in  Christian  effort,  573. 

Free  Churches,  federation  in  Eng- 
land of,  151 ;  resolution  of  sym- 
pathy with  the,  113. 

"Friends,"  33,  54 ;  delegates,  653. 

Gaines,  Bishop  W.  J.,  55. 
Galloway,  Rev.  C.  B.,  xiv,  15,  59; 

a  united  church  and  home  and 

foreign  missions,  283. 


Garrison,  Rev.  J.  H.,  xiv,  11,  54, 
55 ;  a  united  church  and  relig- 
ious education,  173. 

Garritt.  Rev.  Joshua  C,  xv,  17,  61 ; 
interdenominational  work  in  Ko- 
rea and  China,  350. 

German  Churches,  the  "inner  mis- 
sion" of  the,  509. 

German  Evangelical  Synod  of 
North  America,  33,  54;  attitude 
toward  federation  of  the.  489. 
490;  delegates,  653. 

Germany,  union  of  churches  in. 
151. 

Gifford,  Rev.  O.  P.,  18,  62. 

Gladden,  Rev.  Washington,  xiv,  10. 
41 ;  memorial  concerning  the 
persecution  of  Jews  in  Russia. 
51 ;  address,  52,  54,  57,  151. 

Good,  Rev.  James  I.,  18,  62. 

Goodell,  Rev.  Charles  L.,  62. 

Goodsell,  Rev.  Bishop  D.  A.,  xv, 
19,  80;  essential  unity  of  the 
churches,   422. 

Government  by  the  people,  554. 

Graham,  Rev.  L.  G..  12,  54. 

Graham.   Robert,  300. 

Green.  Rev.  D.  C,  364. 

Greene,  Rev.  S.  H.,  54. 

Greer,  Rt.  Rev.  David  H..  xv,  20. 
26.  27,  81,  121;  the  ideal 
church,   579. 

Gruuert,  Rev.  F.  E..  81. 

Grosscup,  Hon.  Peter  S.,  xv,  24, 
103;     the     popular     conscience. 


Hall.   Rev.   Charles   Cuthbert,   xv, 

25,  111;  -world  conquest,  580. 
Hallock,  Dr.  S.  F.,  iii,  47. 
Harlan,  Hon.  John  M.,  13,  57. 
Hartford,  Conn.,  federation,  126. 
Haven,  Rev.  William  I.,  xv,  16,  31, 
43,  60;  federation  in  interdenom- 
inational work,  333. 
Hebrews,  143. 
Hegeman,   Rev.   J.   Winthrop.   xv, 

16.  60,  155,  301;  address,  323. 
Henry,   Rev.   J.   Addison,    xv,    27, 

119. 
Hendrix,  Rev.  Bishop  Eugene  R., 

xiv,  26,  55,  57,  75,  82,  86,  98,  101 : 

the  ideal  state,  587. 
Hillis,    Rev.    Newell    Dwight,    xv, 

23,  102 ;  evangelism  the  hope  of 

the  churches,  528. 
Hodgdon,  Rev.  Frank  W..  51. 
Hodges,  Rev.  George,  xiv,  12,  56 ; 

the     theological     seminary    and 

modern  life,  205. 
Holy  Scripture,  our  faith  in,  377. 


688 


INDEX 


Holy  Spirit,  om-  faith  in  the,  384. 
Home    and    Foreign    Missions,    a 

united  church  and,  249-287. 
Home,  religious  education  in  the, 

175. 
Home  Life,  the  American,  539. 
Hospitality,    report   of    committee 

on.  037,  (571. 
Hoyt.  Rev.  Wayland,  26,  114. 
Hubbert,  Rev.  J.  M.,  xiv,  58,  02. 
Huttou.  Rev.  M.  H.,  55. 
Hvde,  President  William  DeWitt, 

155. 
Hymns,  Christian,  influence  upon 

thought  and  life  of  the  church, 

570. 


Ideal  State,  the,  587. 

Inner     Mission     of     the     German 

churches,  the,  509. 
India,    interdenominational    work 

in,  339. 
Individual,    thought    of   the,    226; 

discovery  of  the,  617. 
Inter-Church     Conference,     marks 

an  era,  140. 
Interdenominational   work,   333. 


Jagger.  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  A.,  23, 
103. 

Japan,  the  Christian  movement  in 
its  relation  to  the  new  life  in, 
364:  interdenominational  work 
in.   355. 

Jefferson,  Rev.  Charles  E.,  18,  62. 

Jennings,  Rev.  M.  L...  12,  51. 

Johnson,  Rev.  G.  W.,  94. 

Johnston,  Rev.  R.  P.,  19,  79;  es- 
sential unity  of  the  churches, 
403. 


Kelley,  Mr.  Robert  L..  54. 

Kelley,  Rev.  William  V.,  13,  57. 

Kephart,  Rev.  Bishop  E.  B.,  71. 

Kimball,  Alfred  R.,  iii,  47;  treas- 
urer's report,  642,  671. 

King,  President  Henry  C,  xiv,  12, 
56;  religious  education  in  the 
college,    197. 

King,  Rev.  Henry  M.,  23,  103. 

Kingdom  of  God,  the  transcen- 
dent aim  of  a  united  church, 
the,  585-601. 

Korea,  interdenominational  work 
in,  350. 

Labor  and  Capital,  225. 

Laidlaw,  Rev.  Walter,  xv.  16,  60. 
1.55;  ten  years'  federative  work 
in  New  York  City,  299-307. 


Lambeth  Conforonco,  conditions 
of  union  adopted  at,  152;  dec- 
laration regarding  missionary 
work,  575. 

Lawson,  Rev.  Albert  G.,  xiv,  51. 

Leibei-t  Rev.  Morris  W.,  80. 

Leonard,  Rev.  Adna  B.,  71. 

Levering,  Rt.  Rev.  J.  M.,  xiv,  15, 
55;  a  imited  church  and  home 
and  foreign  missions,  278. 

Lewis,  Rev.  A.  IL.  25,  104. 

Liberty,  religious,  148. 

Lincoln,    Abraham,    542,    554,    562. 

Littleton,  Hon.  Martin  W.,  xiv,  9, 
41;  address  of  welcome,  129. 

Loofboro,  Rev.  E.  T.,  54. 

Lord,  Rev.  Rivingtou  D.,  xiv,  31, 
43,  54,  75,  87. 

Lutheran  Evangelical  Church,  the 
(General  Synod),  33;  delegates, 
()53. 

Luther  League,  431. 

McAuley.  Jerry,  175. 

McBee.  Mr.  Silas,  20.  80. 

McCook,  Rev.  Henry  C.  66. 

McDowell,  Rev.  Bishop  W.  F.,  xv. 
IS,  62;  our  faith  in  the  Holy 
Spirit,  384. 

McYickar,  Rt.  Rev.  William  Neil- 
son,  xiv,  11,  52.  66,  96;  open 
door  before  the  Christian 
churches,  1,59. 

MacArthur,  Rev.  Robert  S.,  xiv, 
10.  41,  42 ;  address  of  welcome, 
140. 

Mackay,  Rev.  Donald  Sage,  xv,  27, 
121;  address  at  reception  to  the 
Conference,   625,   631. 

MacMullen.  Rev.  Wallace,  iii,  xiv. 
47;  report  of  pulpit  supply  com- 
mittee, 641,  673. 

Maine,  interdenominational  com- 
mission of,  125,  155;  history, 
314-316;  work,  316;  principles, 
317. 

Marriage  and  Divorce,  492. 

Mauck,  President  Joseph  W.,  xv, 
19,  79;  essential  unity  of  the 
churches,  392. 

blendes.  Rev.  Dr.  H.  Pereira,  let- 
ter from,  82. 

Meetings,  report  of  committee  on, 
637,  672. 

:Mennonite  Church,  34;  delegates, 
(;54. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  33; 
delegates.  6.54. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Afri- 
can, 33;  delegates,  658. 


INDEX 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  33;  actiou  of  General 
Conference  of,  157;  delegates, 
656. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church, 
African.  34;  delegates,   658. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
America,  Colored,  33. 

Methodist  Church,  Primitive,  33; 
delegates.  659. 

Methodist  Protestant  Church,  33; 
delegates,  659. 

Miller,  Rev.  C.  Armaud,  xv,  23 ; 
the  "inner  mission"  of  the  Ger- 
man churches,  509. 

Mills,  Rev.  Bishop  J.  S.,  xiv,  11, 
55,  58;  a  united  church  and 
home  and  foreign  missions,  251. 

Ministration,  work  of  the  church, 
599. 

Missionary  activity,  575;  sti-ong- 
est  unifying  element  in  the 
church,  576. 

Modern  Life,  the  theological  sem- 
inary and,  206. 

Moench,  Rt.  Rev.  Chas.  L.,  13,  57. 

Moffat,  Rev.  James  D.,  xiv,  13,  55, 
56. 

Moravian  Chui'ch,  34;  official  ac- 
tion of,  75;  delegates,  659. 

Morehouse.  Rev.  H.  L.,  xiv.  14,  31, 
43,  54,  59,  91;  address,  266. 

Morris.  Rev.  James  C,  74. 

Mott,  Mr.  John  R.,  xv,  20,  80 ;  ad- 
dress as  chairman  of  meeting 
representing  young  people's  or- 
ganizations. 431. 

Municipal  reform,  reasons  for  the 
failure  of,  551,  557. 


Nation,  the  United  States  a  Chris- 
tian, 553. 

National  Educational  Association. 
166. 

National  Federation  of  Churches 
and  Christian  Workers,  29,  36, 
39,  42,  43,  47.  52,  78.  126,  151; 
organization,  155,  156,  157. 

National  Life,  a  united  church  and 
the,  535,  564. 

Negroes,  the  work  of  evangeliza- 
tion among  the,  520. 

New  York  City,  churches  of,  141; 
religious  problems.  142;  federa- 
tion of  churches.  126,  133;  re- 
sults of  work,  304;  ten  years' 
federative  work  in,  299. 

New  York  State,  federation  of 
churches  and  Christian  workers 
of,  323. 

New  Zealand,  union  in,  151. 


Niccolls,  Rev.  Samuel  J.,  xiv,  14, 
58,  83,  85;  a  united  church  and 
home  and  foi'eign  missions,  257. 

Noble,  Rev.  William  B.,  xv,  51. 

North,  Rev.  Frank  Mason,  iii,  iv, 
xiv,  22,  31,  39,  43,  47,  51,  54,  79, 
89,  116;  the  evangelization  of 
American  cities,  501. 


Oberly,  Rev.  H.  II.,  60. 
Open     and     Institutional     Church 
League,  133,  154,  155. 


Parish  Plan,  cooperative,  127,  308. 

Pastors,  an  appeal  to,  533;  need 
of  faithful,  616. 

Patton,  Rev.  Francis  L.,  61. 

Peace,  power  of  the  churches 
through  united  effort  to  compel, 
552. 

I'epper,  Mr.  G.  W.,  55,  60. 

People,  government  by  the,  554. 

Peters,  Rev.  John  P.,  xiv,  15,  59; 
comity  illustrated  in  foreign 
mission  work,  290. 

Philippines,  interdenominational 
work  in  the,  342. 

Plan  of  Federation,  33,  75 ;  discus- 
sion of,  62-72. 

Porter,  Hon.  Henry  Kirke,  xv,  17, 
26,  61;  address.  369;  signlticance 
of  this  Conference,   609. 

Power,  Rev.  Frederick  D.,  xv,  21, 
55,  92;  what  practical  results 
may  be  expected  from  this  Con- 
ference, 476. 

Powers,  Rev.  O.  W..  xiv,  11,  52,  54 ; 
address,  163. 

Presbyterian  Church,  progress 
toward  a  reunited,  486. 

Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S. 
A.,  34;  delegates,  660. 

Presbyterian  Church,  Cumber- 
land, 34;  delegates,  662. 

Presbyterian  Church,  United,  34 ; 
delegates,   662. 

Presbyterian  Church,  Reformed, 
34;  delegates,  662. 

Presb.vterian  Church,  Welsh,  34; 
delegates,  664. 

Press  Committee,  report  of,  639, 
673. 

Press  Comments,  675. 

Press,  religious  education  by  the, 
216-222  ;  daily.  217  ;  church,  219 ; 
power  of  religious,  220. 

Programme,  9-27;  work  of  the 
committee,  47;  report  of  com- 
mittee on,  638,  673. 

Prugh,  Rev.  J.  H.,  55. 


690 


INDEX 


Publication,  report  of  committee 
on,   638. 

Pulpit  Supply,  report  of  commit- 
tee on,  641,  673. 


Radcliffo,  Rev.  Wallace,  xiv,  13, 
56;  labor  and  capital.  225. 

Raymond,  Rev.  Bradford  P.,  24, 
104. 

Reception  at  Waldorf-Astoria  Ho- 
tel, 27;  by  whom  tendered,  47; 
addresses,   621-634,  673. 

Rees,  Mr.  William  A.,  55. 

Reformed  Churches  of  Presbyte- 
rian System,  Alliance  of,  resolu- 
tion regarding  Conference,  52. 

Rofonned  Church  in  America,  34; 
delegates,  663. 

Reformed  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A., 
34;  delegates,  663. 

Religion,  educational  system  of, 
179. 

Religious  Education,  a  united 
church  and,  171-204;  by  the 
press.  56.  213;  in  the  college, 
107:  weok-day,  56.  188. 

Religious  Instruction,  491. 

Remensnyder,  Rev.  J.  B.,  0.  40, 
54. 

Rice,  Rev.  Charles  B..  51. 

Richards,  Rev.  George  W.,  xiv,  12, 
56:  religious  education  in  the 
home.   175.  ' 

Richards,  Rev.  Wilham  R..  17.  61. 

Ripon.  Lord  Bishop  of.  letter  of 
greeting  received  and  read.  52. 

Roberts,  Rev.  Joseph,  16.  59. 

Roberts,  Rev.  William  Henry,  iii, 
iv,  xiv.  10.  25,  31 ;  address  at 
opening  of  Conference,  39.  40. 
42,  45,  47;  elected  permanent 
chairman.  50,  55,  61,  69,  91,  96, 
97.  116,  117,  120,  157,  626,  643. 
671. 

Rodgers,  Rev.  James  B.,  xv,  17. 
60 ;  interdenominational  work  in 
the  Philippines,  342. 

Rogers,  Dean  Henry  Wade,  xv,  24 ; 
government  by  the  people.  5.54. 
Roosevelt,  President  Theodore, 
letter  from.  40.  128.  627. 

Root.  Rev.  Edward  Tallmadge.  xv, 
16,  60;  federation  in  sninlhn-  cit- 
ies and  rural  districts,  307. 


Sabine,  Rt.  Rev.  W.  T.,  15,  55,  59. 

Sanford.  Rev.  Elias  B.,  iii.  vii,  xiv, 
10,  31,  43,  47,  48,  50.  52.  116,  126 : 
preparatory  work  of  recent 
years,  154,  626,  627. 


Satterlee,  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  T.,  300. 

Schools,  parochial,  192,  193;  pub- 
lic, and  religious  instr action  in, 
189-196. 

Schweinitz,  Rev.  Paul  de,  68. 

Scotland,  union  of  Free  Church 
and  the  United  Church  in,  151. 

ScouUer,  Rev.  J.  C,  55. 

Service,  together  for,  608. 

Seymour,  Rev.  Charles  R.,  21,  81. 

Smith,  Rev.  C.  W.,  54. 

Social  Order,  united  church  and 
the,  223,  248. 

Society,  the  ideal,  242. 

Speer,  Mr.  Robert,  20.  81 ;  the 
basis  of  unify  among  young  peo- 
ple and  steps  toward  its  achieve- 
ment, 443. 

Spreng.  Rev.  S.  P.,  xv,  19,  79;  es- 
sential unity  of  the  churches, 
412. 

Stanley.  Dean,  quotation,  400. 

Steele,  Rev.  James  D.,  55,  81. 

Stephens,  Rev.  D.  S.,  xv,  21,  .55, 
92 ;  what  practical  results  may 
be  expected  from  this  Confer- 
ence, 480. 

Stevenson,  Rev.  J.  Ross,  xv,  25; 
missionary  activity,  575. 

Stimson,  Rev.  Henry  A.,  27,  121. 

Stires,  Rev.  Ernest  M.,  25. 

Stoever,  W.  E..  xv,  26 ;  significance 
of  this  Conference,  610. 

Stotsenberg,  Mr.  J.  H.,  60,  82. 

Strong,  Rev.  Josiah,  xv,  19,  79,  89. 
299;  essential  unity  of  the 
churches.  417,  503. 

Student  Volunteer  Movement,  for 
foreign   missions.   432,   465,   469. 

Sunday  School,  193;  religious 
education  and  the,  55,  181,  193; 
international  convention  report, 
186 ;  future  work  of.  187,  188. 

Sunday  newspaper,  218. 

Summerbell.  Rev.  Martyn,  xiv,  51. 

Synnott,   Mr.  Thomas  W.,  51,  .55. 

Tagg.  Rev.  F.  T..  xv.  19,  55,  79; 

essential  unity  of  the  churches, 

408. 
Theological  seminary  and  modern 

life.  .56,  205. 
1'hoburn.    Rev.   Bisliop   J.    M..   xv, 

16.       61 ;       interdenominational 

work  in  India.  3.39. 
Thompson.  Rev.  Charles  L.,  xiv.  9, 

31.  41.  43.  .55:   addre.ss  of  wel- 
come.  13.3.   154. 
Tigert,   Rev.  .Tohn   J.,   xiv,  26,  51, 

55,  90.  104;  significance  of  this 

Conference,  611. 


INDEX 


691 


Tipple,  Rev,  Ezra  Squier,  iii,  xiv, 
47,  637,  671. 

Transportation,  report  of  commit- 
tee on,  643. 

Treasurer's  Report,  642. 

Tract  Society,  American.  334. 

Tucker,  President  William  J.,  xiv, 
13,  57;  citizenship,  230. 

Tupper,  Rev.  Kerr  Boyce,  iii,  xiv, 
27,  47,  121 ;  response  on  behalf 
of  the  delegates  at  reception 
given  to  the  Conference,  630, 
672. 

Turnbull,  Rev.  Thomas  B.,  xv,  23, 
103. 


Union,  in  Canada,  Australia,  New 
Zealand,  151 ;  evangelical  in 
Philippines,  resolutions,  349 ; 
focus  point  of,  627;  on  foreign 
mission  fields,  150 ;  organic 
Church,  140. 

United  Church,  138;  illustrated. 
139 ;  evangelization,  and  a,  449- 
534;  religious  education,  and  a, 
171 ;  Christian  progress,  and  a, 
565-602. 

United  Brethren  in  Christ,  34; 
delegates,  664. 

United  Evangelical  Church,  34; 
delegates.  664. 

Unity  Among  Young  People,  the 
basis  of,  443 ;  of  the  churches, 
the  essential,  391 ;  product  of 
evangelism,  149;  Dr.  Jacob 
Chamberlain's  appeal  for,  579; 
organic.  152;  reasons  for  a 
larger  measure  of.  449. 

United  States,  union  of  churches, 
152 ;  Christian  nation,  553. 


Van  Dyke,  Rev.  Henry,  xiv,  14,  57 ; 

the  ideal  society,  242. 
Vogt,  Mr.  Von  Ogden,  xv,  20,  81 ; 

address,  453. 
Vincent,  Rev.  Bishop  John  H.,  xv, 

27;  closing  address,  612. 


Walters,   Rev.   Bishop   A.,   14,   55, 

57. 
Wanamaker,    Hon.    John,    xiv,    12, 

56;  religious  education  and  the 

Sunday  School,  181. 


Ward,  Rev.  William  Hayes,  iii, 
xiv,  10,  31,  42,  45,  47,  51,  54,  79, 
87,  88,  90,  116;  general  move- 
ment towards  a  closer  fellow- 
ship of  the  churches,  147,  156, 
637,  671. 

Warren,  Rev.  Bishop  Henry  W., 
59. 

Waterhouse,  Rev.  R.  G.,  55. 

Watson,  Rev.  Charles  R.,  xiv,  15, 
59,  288. 

Welcome,  address  in  behalf  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  129;  for  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Na- 
tional Federation  of  Churches, 
133. 

Wenner,  Rev.  George  U.,  xiv,  12, 
31,  43,  56,  62;  week-day  relig- 
ious instruction,  188. 

Wesley,  John,  leader  in  methods  of 
training  and  teaching,  185. 

Whitaker,  Rt.  Rev.  Ozi  William, 
XV,  18,  55,  60,  02,  69;  statement 
in  behalf  of  the  delegates  rep- 
resenting the  Commission  on 
Unity  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church,  72. 

White,  Mr.  J.  Campbell,  xv,  21, 
81 ;  evangelization  of  the  world 
the  great  unifying  conception, 
453. 

Willett,  Rev.  H.  L.,  xv.  18,  61 ;  our 
faith  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  377. 

Wilson,  Rev.  Bishop  A.  W.,  xv,  21, 
55,  81,  93;  address,  475. 

Wilson.  President  Woodrow,  xv. 
20,  80;  the  mediation  of  jouth 
in  Christian  progi-ess.  435. 

Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  166,  335. 

Work,  interdenominational,  333. 

Working  people,  how  to  reach  the, 
529. 

World  conquest,  580. 

World's  Student  Christian  Federa- 
tion, 432. 


Yarrow,  Rev.  W.  H.,  55. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, vi,  150.  153,  166,  184,  199, 
334,  360,  431,  440,  441. 

Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, 166,  464,  469. 

Young  People,  unity  among,  443. 

Youth,  the  possibilities  of  united 
Christian,  461. 


BRIHLE  DO  NOT 
PHOTOCOPY 


^^ 


BRITTI  '■  n-  f  OT 
PHOTOCOPY  ■ 


